Individual variability in functional connectivity architecture of the mouse brain

In recent years precision fMRI has emerged in human brain research, demonstrating characterization of individual differences in brain organization. However, mechanistic investigations to the sources of individual variability are limited in humans and thus require animal models. Here, we used resting-state fMRI in awake mice to quantify the contribution of individual variation to the functional architecture of the mouse cortex. We found that the mouse connectome is also characterized by stable individual features that support connectivity-based identification. Unlike in humans, we found that individual variation is homogeneously distributed in sensory and association networks. Finally, connectome-based predictive modeling of motor behavior in the rotarod task revealed that individual variation in functional connectivity explained behavioral variability. Collectively, these results establish the feasibility of precision fMRI in mice and lay the foundation for future mechanistic investigations of individual brain organization and pre-clinical studies of brain disorders in the context of personalized medicine. Bergmann et al. employ resting state fMRI to understand how individual variation affects the functional architecture of the mouse cortex. The results of this study lay the foundation for precision fMRI use in mice investigating individual brain organization.