Perspectives given by structural connectivity bridge the gap between structure and function

Excerpt

“Afferent, efferent and intrinsic connections, as well as cell types and their properties, are the structural basis of a brain region's function” (Zilles and Amunts 2015). Over the last several decades, neuroscience has made enormous progress in understanding brain-function mechanisms at different spatial scales, ranging from the single-neuron level to macroscale cortical maps. While some reports demonstrate that a function can be localised into a specific area (localisationism), a collection of neuroscience studies also indicate that functions are mediated through the interaction of multiple brain areas. We will argue that extreme localisationism thinking has lost perspective. While areas can be sensitive to specific functions, they are not independently processing the information. For instance, reading this text requires the involvement of a system of interconnected brain areas analysing visual words and phonological and lexical information (Wandell et al. 2012). Hence, there is a pressing need to understand ‘structural connectivity’, which is a term generally referring to anatomical connections between brain areas. Structural connectivity is essential in understanding the circuitry supporting the interaction between brain areas and in bridging anatomy with function. …