Heart rate dynamics embed a shared representation of individual brain organization and cognitive function

Abstract

Idiosyncratic brain functional organization shapes intricate cardiac dynamics through central-peripheral autonomic interactions, yet a comprehensive mapping between multi-scale heart rate dynamics and whole-brain functional architecture remains lacking. Here, combining highly comparative time-series analysis with multi-modal neuroimaging and intracranial electrophysiology, we establish heart rate dynamics as a physiological fingerprint that maps onto whole-brain functional architecture. Partial least squares analysis revealed a generalizable latent axis linking reduced heart rate temporal complexity and elevated micro-scale predictability to heightened resting-state functional connectivity across default mode, salience, and sensorimotor networks. This covariance aligns spatially with serotonergic, noradrenergic, and cholinergic neuromodulatory gradients, persists across physiological confound controls and cross-session validations, derives support from human intracranial electrophysiological recordings, and extends to active cognitive states. Furthermore, brain-covarying heart rate signatures underpin the predictive capacity of heart rate dynamics for individual fluid and crystallized intelligence, demonstrating a shared representational substrate. Our findings demonstrate a robust neurovisceral coupling architecture, establishing well-characterized heart rate dynamics as a scalable, neurobiologically anchored window into human brain functional organization and cognitive traits.