A subset of cortical areas exhibit adult-like functional network patterns in early childhood
The human cerebral cortex contains groups of areas that support sensory, motor, cognitive, and affective functions, often categorized into functional networks. These networks show stronger internal and weaker external functional connectivity (FC), with FC profiles more similar within the same network. Previous studies have shown these networks develop from nascent forms before birth to their mature, adult-like structures in childhood. However, these analyses often rely on adult functional network definitions. This study assesses the potential misidentification of infant functional networks when using adult models and explores the consequences and possible solutions to this problem. Our findings suggest that although adult networks only marginally describe infant FC organization better than chance, misidentification is primarily driven by specific areas. Restricting functional networks to areas with adult-like network clustering revealed consistent within-network FC across scans and throughout development. These areas are also near locations with low network identity variability. Our results highlight the implications of using adult networks for infants and offer guidance for selecting and utilizing functional network models based on research questions and scenarios.
Authors
- Jed T. Elison (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6246-1000)
- Muriah D. Wheelock (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3409-8777)
- Jiaxin Cindy Tu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1982-9890)
- Adam T. Eggebrecht (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6320-2676)
- Eric Feczko (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1337-5517)
- Lucille A. Moore (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7665-2713)
- Trevor K. M. Day (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2911-8312)
- Damien A. Fair (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8602-393X)
- Evan M. Gordon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2276-5237)
- Óscar Miranda-Domínguez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3622-0166)
- Xintian Wang
- Donna L. Dierker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9791-8384)
- Timothy O. Laumann
- Omid Kardan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4187-5228)
- Chloe M. Sobolewski
- Yu Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8344-1586)
Institutions
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Allen Institute for Brain Science (US)
- Georgetown University (US)
- Washington University in St. Louis (US)
- University of Michigan (US)
- Mallinckrodt (United States) (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
- Published
- 2025-03-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2025.101551
- Citations
- 5
- Primary Topic
- Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 7.16
Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- McDonnell Center for Systems Neuroscience
- Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
- National Institute of Mental Health
- National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development