Gradients of functional connectivity in the mouse cortex reflect neocortical evolution

Abstract Understanding cortical organization is a fundamental goal of neuroscience that requires comparisons across species and modalities. Large-scale connectivity gradients have recently been introduced as a data-driven representation of the intrinsic organization of the cortex. We studied resting-state functional connectivity gradients in the mouse cortex and found robust spatial patterns across four data sets. The principal gradient of functional connectivity shows a striking overlap with an axis of neocortical evolution from two primordial origins. Additional gradients reflect sensory specialization and aspects of a sensory-to-transmodal hierarchy, and are associated with transcriptomic features. While some of these gradients strongly resemble observations in the human cortex, the overall pattern in the mouse cortex emphasizes the specialization of sensory areas over a global functional hierarchy. Highlights The principal gradient of functional connectivity in the mouse cortex recapitulates an axis of neocortical evolution from archicortex and paleocortex. Additional gradients highlight sensory specialization and reflect aspects of a sensory-to-transmodal hierarchy. Functional connectivity gradients partly align with gene expression patterns. Mouse cortical gradients are stable across data sets.