The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
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Investigation of the functional macro-scale organization of the human cortex is fundamental in modern neuroscience. Although numerous studies have identified networks of interacting functional modules in the gray-matter, limited research was directed to the functional organization of the white-matter. Recent studies have demonstrated that the white-matter exhibits blood oxygen level-dependent signal fluctuations similar to those of the gray-matter. ⋯ We identify 12 functional networks composed of interacting long-distance white-matter tracts. Moreover, we show that these networks are highly correlated to resting-state gray-matter networks, highlighting their functional role. Our findings enable reinterpretation of many existing fMRI datasets, and suggest a new way to explore the white-matter role in cognition and its disturbances in neuropsychiatric disorders.