Mapping electromagnetic networks to haemodynamic networks in the human brain

Whole-brain neural communication is typically estimated from statistical associations among electromagnetic or haemodynamic time-series. The relationship between functional network architectures recovered from these two types of neural activity remains unknown. Here we map electromagnetic networks (measured using magnetoencephalography; MEG) to haemodynamic networks (measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging; fMRI). We find that the relationship between the two modalities is regionally heterogeneous and systematically follows the cortical hierarchy, with close correspondence in unimodal cortex and poor correspondence in transmodal cortex, potentially reflecting patterns of laminar differentiation, recurrent subcortical input and neurovascular coupling. Correspondence between the two is largely driven by slower rhythms, particularly the delta (2-4 Hz) and beta (15-29 Hz) frequency band. Moreover, haemodynamic connectivity cannot be explained by electromagnetic activity in a single frequency band, but rather arises from the mixing of multiple neurophysiological rhythms. Collectively, these findings demonstrate highly organized but only partly overlapping patterns of connectivity in MEG and fMRI functional networks, opening fundamentally new avenues for studying the relationship between cortical micro-architecture and multi-modal connectivity patterns.