Functional Specialization in the Human Brain Estimated By Intrinsic Hemispheric Interaction

The human brain demonstrates functional specialization, including strong hemispheric asymmetries. Here specialization was explored using fMRI by examining the degree to which brain networks preferentially interact with ipsilateral as opposed to contralateral networks. Preferential within-hemisphere interaction was prominent in the heteromodal association cortices and minimal in the sensorimotor cortices. The frontoparietal control network exhibited strong within-hemisphere interactions but with distinct patterns in each hemisphere. The frontoparietal control network preferentially coupled to the default network and language-related regions in the left hemisphere but to attention networks in the right hemisphere. This arrangement may facilitate control of processing functions that are lateralized. Moreover, the regions most linked to asymmetric specialization also display the highest degree of evolutionary cortical expansion. Functional specialization that emphasizes processing within a hemisphere may allow the expanded hominin brain to minimize between-hemisphere connectivity and distribute domain-specific processing functions.