Lucina Uddin, PhD - Towards a universal taxonomy of functional brain networks

Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre 

While the idea that the human brain is composed of multiple large functional networks has been gaining traction in cognitive and network neuroscience, the field has yet to reach consensus on

several key issues regarding terminology. What constitutes a functional brain network? Are there "core" functional networks, and if so, what are their spatial topographies? What naming conventions, if universally adopted, will provide the most utility and facilitate communication amongst researchers? Can a taxonomy of functional brain networks be delineated? The Workgroup for HArmonized Taxonomy of NETworks (WHATNET) was formed in 2020 as an OHBM–endorsed best practices committee to provide recommendations on points of consensus, identify open questions, and highlight areas of ongoing debate in the service of moving the field toward standardized reporting of network neuroscience results. The group has developed a Network Correspondence Toolbox (NCT) to permit researchers to examine and report spatial correspondence between their novel neuroimaging results and multiple widely used functional brain atlases. The adoption of the NCT will make it easier for researchers to report their findings in a standardized manner, thus aiding reproducibility and facilitating comparisons between studies to produce interdisciplinary insights.