A cross-disorder connectome landscape of brain dysconnectivity

Many human brain disorders are associated with characteristic alterations in the structural and functional connectivity of the brain. In this article, we explore how commonalities and differences in connectome alterations can reveal relationships across disorders. We survey recent literature on connectivity changes in neurological and psychiatric disorders in the context of key organizational principles of the human connectome and observe that several disturbances to network properties of the human brain have a common role in a wide range of brain disorders and point towards potentially shared network mechanisms underpinning disorders. We hypothesize that the distinct dimensions along which connectome networks are organized (for example, ‘modularity’ and ‘integration’) provide a general coordinate system that allows description and categorization of relationships between seemingly disparate disorders. We outline a cross-disorder ‘connectome landscape of dysconnectivity’ along these principal dimensions of network organization that may place shared connectome alterations between brain disorders in a common framework. In this Opinion article, Martijn van den Heuvel and Olaf Sporns examine alterations in structural and functional brain connectivity across brain disorders. They propose a common landscape for such alterations that is based on principles of network organization.