The spatial layout of antagonistic brain regions is explicable based on geometric principles
Brain activity emerges in a dynamic landscape of regional increases and decreases that span the cortex. Increases in activity during a cognitive task are often assumed to reflect the processing of task-relevant information, while reductions can be interpreted as suppression of irrelevant activity to facilitate task goals. Here, we explore the relationship between task-induced increases and decreases in activity from a geometric perspective. Using a technique known as kriging, developed in earth sciences, we examined whether the spatial organisation of brain regions showing positive activity could be predicted based on the spatial layout of regions showing activity decreases (and vice versa). Consistent with this hypothesis we established the spatial distribution of regions showing reductions in activity could predict (i) regions showing task-relevant increases in activity in both groups of humans and single individuals; (ii) patterns of neural activity captured by calcium imaging in mice; and, (iii) showed a high degree of generalisability across task contexts. Our analysis, therefore, establishes that antagonistic relationships between brain regions are topographically determined, a spatial analog for the well documented anti-correlation between brain systems over time.
Authors
- Boris C. Bernhardt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9256-6041)
- Robert Leech (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5801-6318)
- Rodrigo M. Braga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2671-7096)
- Daniel S. Margulies (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8880-9204)
- Francesco Alberti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5732-8224)
- Elizabeth Jefferies (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3826-4330)
- František Váša (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6744-7139)
- Emily J. H. Jones (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5747-9540)
- Federico Turkheimer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3766-3815)
- Jonathan Smallwood (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7298-2459)
- Oliver Sherwood
- David Haydock
- Nicholas Vowles
Institutions
- Northwestern University (US)
- Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (CA)
- King's College London (GB)
- Queen's University (CA)
- Northwestern University (PH)
- Northwestern Medicine (US)
- University College London (GB)
- McGill University (CA)
- University of York (GB)
- Birkbeck, University of London (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Communications Biology
- Published
- 2025-06-07
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-08295-2
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Neural dynamics and brain function
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 7.16
Funders
- UK Research and Innovation
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
- Centre For Medical Engineering, King’s College London