Fig. 6. Multi-scale network coupling is associated with executive function.
a Network-level relationships between coupling and EF are quadratically related to transmodality. Specifically, segregation of both sensorimotor and default-mode networks is associated with better EF. These associations with EF are dissociable from normative developmental effects (Fig. 3c) where default-mode segregation and sensorimotor integration are observed. The statistical test was two-sided. b Analyses at scales 4 and 20 reveal differing associations with EF. While between-network coupling of visual, insular, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortical areas is consistently associated with greater EF (QFDR < 0.05), opposite associations with EF were present in motor cortex at coarse and fine scales. c Tests of age-by-scale interactions using GEEs reveal that scale effects are strongest in the sensorimotor cortex. d Scale is differentially linked to EF associations with coupling in higher-order and lower-order networks. As for age, effects in somatomotor networks tend to be more scale-dependent than those in association networks. The effect of age across scales is plotted for networks predominantly overlapping with the lowest-order (blue; Somatomotor-A) and highest-order (red; Default Mode-B) of the Yeo 17 networks. e Complex patterns of multi-scale coupling between personalized networks accurately predicts EF in unseen data. Cross-validated ridge regression with nested parameter tuning was used to predict EF of unseen data using each participant’s multivariate pattern of coupling across scales. Error bands depict the 95% confidence interval, statistical tests are two-sided for d and one-sided for e. MSE = mean squared error.