  Imaging studies suggest that the functional connectivity patterns of resting
state networks (RS-networks) reflect underlying structural connectivity (SC).
If the connectome constrains how brain areas are functionally connected, the
stimulation of specific brain areas should produce a characteristic wave of
activity ultimately resolving into RS-networks. To systematically test this
hypothesis, we use a connectome-based network model of the human brain with
detailed realistic SC. We systematically activate all possible thalamic and
cortical areas with focal stimulation patterns and confirm that the stimulation
of specific areas evokes network patterns that closely resemble RS-networks.
For some sites, one or no RS-network is engaged, whereas for other sites more
than one RS-network may evolve. Our results confirm that the brain is operating
at the edge of criticality, wherein stimulation produces a cascade of
functional network recruitments, collapsing onto a smaller subspace that is
constrained in part by the anatomical local and long-range SCs. We suggest that
information flow, and subsequent cognitive processing, follows specific routes
imposed by connectome features, and that these routes explain the emergence of
RS-networks. Since brain stimulation can be used to diagnose/treat neurological
disorders, we provide a look-up table showing which areas need to be stimulated
to activate specific RS-networks.
