Resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) between brain regions has been used for
studying training-related changes in brain function during the offline period of skill learning.
However, it is difficult to infer whether the observed training-related changes in rsFC
measured between two scans occur as a consequence of task performance, whether they
are specific to a given task, or whether they reflect confounding factors such as diurnal
fluctuations in brain physiology that impact the MRI signal. Here, we sought to elucidate …

Resting-state fMRI (rsFMRI) has been used for studying training-related changes in brain
function during the offline period of skill learning. However, the lack of experimental control
during “rest” makes it difficult to separate the impact of training from technical artifacts and
experimental confounds like time-of-day (TOD) related changes in MRI signal. Here, by
using multiple tasks (rest, visuo-spatial training, motor sequence training), we mapped out
the spatial topography of changes in rsFC evoked by TOD and by training. Our findings …