The salience network (SN) anchored by the anterior insula and cingulate is crucial for the autonomic control of body homeostasis. Resting-sate fMRI studies have linked intrinsic SN connectivity with multiple autonomic measures, but little is known about the structural organization of this system relating to cardiac vagal function. To address the above issue, the current study used covariance analysis of MRI-based gray matter volume (GMV) to map structural covariance of SN with two independent datasets, and then determined whether interregional structural connections within SN related to individual differences in vagally-mediated heart rate variability (HRV). The results showed a significant positive association between structural covariance of the SN and vagal component of HRV in two independent samples. More importantly, the conjunction and pooled data analysis revealed that structural correlation from left anterior insula to dorsal anterior cingulate cortex positively interacted with vagally-mediated HRV. The current results demonstrated a crucial role of the SN in the cortical modulation of efferent vagal activity to the heart, and provided new insight into structural neural network implicated in cardiac vagal control.

由前岛和扣带固定的显着网络（SN）对于自主控制人体稳态至关重要。静止状态功能磁共振成像研究已将固有的SN连接性与多种自主性措施联系在一起，但是对该系统与心脏迷走功能有关的结构组织知之甚少。为了解决上述问题，本研究使用基于MRI的灰质体积（GMV）的协方差分析来绘制具有两个独立数据集的SN的结构协方差，然后确定SN内的区域间结构联系是否与阴道介导的个体差异有关心率变异性（HRV）。结果表明，在两个独立样本中，SN的结构协方差与HRV的迷走成分之间存在显着的正相关。更重要的是，结合和合并数据分析显示，左前岛与背扣带前皮质的结构相关性与阴道介导的HRV呈正相关。目前的结果证明了SN在对心脏传出的迷走神经活动的皮质调节中的关键作用，并为参与心脏迷走神经控制的结构神经网络提供了新的见识。