Human cortex organizes dynamic co-fluctuations along the sensorimotor-association axis
De-Zhi Jin, Changsong Zhou, Xi-Nian Zuo, Joshua Faskowitz, Ting Xu, Ye He · 2026
Read Human cortex organizes dynamic co-fluctuations along the sensorimotor-association axis by De-Zhi Jin, Changsong Zhou, Xi-Nian Zuo, Joshua Faskowitz, Ting Xu, Ye He (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13518953.txt.
Description
De-Zhi Jin and five colleagues ask in 2026 how the brain's stable network hierarchy emerges from moment-to-moment fluctuations in activity. Brain regions rise and fall together in fMRI signals, and networks arrange along an axis from sensory and motor areas to association areas. Earlier dynamic studies mostly examined only the loudest fluctuations.
Sorting co-fluctuations by strength uncovered a layered pattern aligned with that axis. Strong fluctuations favored sensorimotor networks, mid-strength ones favored association systems, and quiet states engaged the limbic system. The layering sharpened from childhood to adulthood and reshaped itself during movie watching. Replicated across four datasets, the pattern suggests the hierarchy is actively maintained by an amplitude-ordered cascade.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | De-Zhi Jin, Changsong Zhou, Xi-Nian Zuo, Joshua Faskowitz, Ting Xu, Ye He |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 70 KB |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |