Colloquium
Time: 11:00am, Sept 18, 2025
Venue: Lecture Hall, Shanghai Brain Center
Speaker: Dr. XU Rui
McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT，Cambridge, MA, US
Host：Dr. Vishal Kpoor
Biography:
Rui Xu is a research scientist at MIT studying neural mechanisms of cognitive control. He developed electrical stimulation and fMRI (es-fMRI) methods in monkeys that revealed map-like topographic patterns of prefrontal-cortical connectivity (Xu et al., Neuron, 2022). He now leads a multi-institutional effort to translate es-fMRI for mapping the human brain connectome.
Abstract:
The human cerebral cortex orchestrates complex cognitive functions, yet its wiring diagram remains poorly understood. We previously showed in macaque monkeys that concurrent electrical stimulation and fMRI (es-fMRI) closely matches gold-standard tract tracing for mapping anatomical connections. Here, we apply es-fMRI to neurosurgical patients with epilepsy to chart the human cortical connectome. In combination with task fMRI in the same participants—localizing cognitive domains including executive control, language, social cognition, and object vision—I will show how anatomical connectivity generally parallels, but does not perfectly match, functional organization. Using es-fMRI as a reference, I will present evidence that resting-state functional connectivity partly reflects underlying anatomy, whereas diffusion MRI tractography is unreliable, especially for long-range connections. Finally, I will illustrate how es-fMRI begins to dissect a functionally defined cortical network. These findings establish that es-fMRI is a powerful tool for bridging anatomy and function in the human brain, setting empirical boundaries for mechanistic models of cognition.