Inter-regional ECoG correlations predicted by communication dynamics, geometry, and correlated gene expression

Abstract: Electrocorticography (ECoG) provides direct measurements of synchronized postsynaptic potentials at the exposed cortical surface. Patterns of signal covariance across ECoG sensors have been associated with diverse cognitive functions and remain a critical marker of seizure onset, progression, and termination. Yet, a systems level understanding of these patterns (or networks) has remained elusive, in part due to variable electrode placement and sparse cortical coverage. Here, we address these challenges by constructing inter-regional ECoG networks from multi-subject recordings, demonstrate similarities between these networks and those constructed from blood-oxygen-level-dependent signal in functional magnetic resonance imaging, and predict network topology from anatomical connectivity, interregional distance, and correlated gene expression patterns. Our models accurately predict out-of-sample ECoG networks and perform well even when fit to data from individual subjects, suggesting shared organizing principles across persons. In addition, we identify a set of genes whose brain-wide co-expression is highly correlated with ECoG network organization. Using gene ontology analysis, we show that these same genes are enriched for membrane and ion channel maintenance and function, suggesting a molecular underpinning of ECoG connectivity. Our findings provide fundamental understanding of the factors that influence interregional ECoG networks, and open the possibility for predictive modeling of surgical outcomes in disease.