Multivariate Network-Level Approach to Detect Interactions between Large-Scale Functional Systems

The question of how large-scale systems interact with each other is intriguing given the increasingly established network structures of whole brain organization. Commonly used regional interaction approaches, however, cannot address this question. In this paper, we proposed a multivariate network-level framework to directly quantify the interaction pattern between large-scale functional systems. The proposed framework was tested on three different brain states, including resting, finger tapping and movie watching using functional connectivity MRI. The interaction patterns among five predefined networks including dorsal attention (DA), default (DF), frontal-parietal control (FPC), motor-sensory (MS) and visual (V) were delineated during each state. Results show dramatic and expected network-level correlation changes across different states underscoring the importance of network-level interactions for successful transition between different states. In addition, our analysis provides preliminary evidence of the potential regulating role of FPC on the two opposing systems-DA and DF on the network level.