Fig. 2: Association between average connectivity between hemispheres and asymmetry in tau distribution.

a Inter-hemispheric functional/structural connectivity vs absolute global tau laterality; b Fractional anisotropy in main white matter tracts vs absolute global tau laterality; c Inter-hemispheric functional/structural connectivity between tau asymmetry groups; d Fractional anisotropy in main white matter tracts between tau asymmetry groups. Panels a and b show regression lines with 95% confidence intervals, with statistical annotations indicating the standardized effect size and significance level of tau laterality as a predictor of connectivity in ordinary least squares multiple linear regression models (inter-hemispheric connectivity ~ age + sex + global tau load + global tau laterality). Boxplots in panels c and d represent inter-hemispheric connectivity across the three tau asymmetry groups, where the groups were statistically compared using ordinary least squares multiple linear regression models (inter-hemispheric connectivity ~ age + sex + global tau load + group), with the significance levels Bonferroni-corrected for the number of group comparisons. The horizontal line within each box indicates the median, while the lower and upper box edges denote the first and third quartiles, respectively. Whiskers extend to 1.5 times the interquartile range, and dots represent individual data points. Note: 16 subjects were dropped from the analyses within panels b and d after visual quality control of the tract segmentation, resulting in n = 336. LA left tau asymmetric, S tau symmetric, RA right tau asymmetric.