Development in Intrinsic Neural Timescale of Hippocampal Subfields during Childhood and Adolescence

Motivation: The hippocampus plays a pivotal role in cognition, hosting an intrinsic neural timescale hierarchy. Goal(s): How does this intrinsic neural timescale hierarchy within the hippocampal subfield evolve throughout childhood and adolescence?Approach: Our study encompasses 300 healthy children (6-14 years). We characterized the intrinsic neural timescale by assessing the decay of the temporal autocorrelation function (ACF) and utilized mixed-effect model to chart the developmental trajectories. Results: Group-level intrinsic timescales within hippocampal subfields show clear temporal hierarchies along the long-axis and medial-lateral axis, and show significant correlations with hippocampal functional connectome gradients. Developmental trajectories reveal significant maturation and reorganization during childhood and adolescence. Impact: Our research findings offer valuable insights into the unique patterns of INT within various hippocampal subfields. Furthermore, they shed light on the significant maturation and reorganization of the temporal integration and segregation structure that occurs during the onset of puberty.