Structure and function are inextricably linked in biology. For example, we know that the wiring complexity increases in brain regions associated with more complex functions. We also know cells that synchronize together do so not only because of structural connections, but also through shared fluctuating electrical fields. There is much to be understood about these intricate structure/function relationships, and it’s important to understand so we can catalog the brain’s foundational organizational properties. 

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My colleagues and I at the Pain and Passions Lab at Northwestern University (Chicago, IL) have found that the structure / function relationships change depending on one’s cognitive state. Doing something as simple as attending to a moving object has massive effects on fluctuating brain activity and its relation to underlying structure. As many fMRI experiments require some sort of task performance, this work has widespread implications on those studies’ interpretations.

 

Baria, Alexis T. “The infrastructure of brain rhythms and its disruption in pain.” The brain adapting with pain. Ed. Apkarian AV. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer, 2015. Print.

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Baria, Alex T., A. Mansour, Lejian Huang, Marwan N. Baliki, Guillermo A. Cecchi, M-Marsel Mesulam, and Apkar Vania Apkarian. "Linking human brain local activity fluctuations to structural and functional network architectures." Neuroimage 73 (2013): 144-155.

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Baria, Alexis T., Marwan N. Baliki, Todd Parrish, and A. Vania Apkarian. "Anatomical and functional assemblies of brain BOLD oscillations." Journal of Neuroscience 31, no. 21 (2011): 7910-7919.