Resting-state functional Magnetic Resonance Image (rsfMRI) signal correlations are widely used for charting functional brain connectivity in healthy and diseased brains, and has revolutionized our understanding of the organization of large-scale brain networks and their abnormalities in various brain diseases. However, the neurophysiological basis underlying the images-based measures of brain connectivity/dynamics remains largely elusive. In this seminar, I describe multiple research projects that promoted the mechanistic understanding of the resting-state fMRI connectivity/dynamics. Combining multi-modal recordings from animals and humans under various brain conditions, these projects provide new insight into the dynamic nature of the resting-state connectivity, and reveal the electrophysiological correlates and behavioral relevance of global non-specific components of rsfMRI correlations.

Xiao Liu, Ph.D., is a professor in the department of Biomedical Engineering at Penn State University.