Development of Infant Brain Structure-function Coupling Indicates Spatiotemporal Disassociation
Poster No:
1279
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Rui Zhou1, Lingbin Bian1, Jiawei Huang1, Feihong Liu2,1, Yajuan Zhang1, Tianli Tao1, Mianxin Liu1, Zhuoyang Gu1, Xinyi Cai1, Lianghu Guo1, Feiyu Quan1, Yan Liang1, Dinggang Shen1,3,4, Han Zhang1,4
Institutions:
1School of Biomedical Engineering, ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China, 2School of Information Science and Technology, Northwest University, Xi'an, China, 3Department of Research and Development, United Imaging Intelligence Co., Ltd., Shanghai, China, 4Shanghai Clinical Research and Trial Center, Shanghai, China
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Feihong Liu
School of Information Science and Technology, Northwest University|School of Biomedical Engineering, ShanghaiTech University
Xi'an, China|Shanghai, China
School of Information Science and Technology, Northwest University|School of Biomedical Engineering, ShanghaiTech University
Xi'an, China|Shanghai, China
Dinggang Shen
School of Biomedical Engineering, ShanghaiTech University|Department of Research and Development, United Imaging Intelligence Co., Ltd.|Shanghai Clinical Research and Trial Center
Shanghai, China|Shanghai, China|Shanghai, China
School of Biomedical Engineering, ShanghaiTech University|Department of Research and Development, United Imaging Intelligence Co., Ltd.|Shanghai Clinical Research and Trial Center
Shanghai, China|Shanghai, China|Shanghai, China
Han Zhang
School of Biomedical Engineering, ShanghaiTech University|Shanghai Clinical Research and Trial Center
Shanghai, China|Shanghai, China
School of Biomedical Engineering, ShanghaiTech University|Shanghai Clinical Research and Trial Center
Shanghai, China|Shanghai, China
Introduction:
The infant brain rapidly matures after birth with distinct brain regions interconnecting for unique functions at different developmental stages, underpinning different behavioral milestones(Tierney 2009). A critical knowledge gap is how the interweaved relation between brain structure and function evolves during early development and whether such relation can predict later outcomes. Most previous studies focused on the youths or adults, holding divergent views on how such a relationship is built in infancy(Suárez 2020). We systematically studied infant brain structure-function coupling, including its spatial and longitudinal patterns, hemispheric lateralization, and the association with developmental scores such as fine motor skills. Our findings provide insights into how the infant brain's wiring influences brain functioning and behavior.
Methods:
We utilized resting-state fMRI and diffusion MRI data from the Baby Connectome Project(Howell 2019), comprising 318 scans with 180 subjects within the 0-36 month age range. Our data preprocessing involved motion correction, distortion correction, functional-anatomical registration, one-time resampling, and a deep learning-based denoising for fMRI, as well as denoising, distortion/eddy-current correction, ODF fitting, and probabilistic fiber tracking for diffusion MRI. We used Schaefer's(Schaefer 2018) and Yeo's(Yeo 2011) atlases to parcellate the brain into 400 ROIs and 7 subnetworks for connectivity analysis. Structure-function coupling was determined through Spearman correlations of both nodal and global connectivity profiles, generating ROI-level and brain-level measures. Hemispheric asymmetry in structure-function coupling was assessed. Longitudinal changes in the coupling were depicted using a linear mixed-effect model. The relationship between the coupling and the developmental outcomes measured by the Mullen Scale was examined(Mullen 1995).
Results:
Fig. 1A shows the spatial distribution of ROI-wise structure-function coupling in the brain averaged across 0-36 months of age. The primary areas exhibit higher coupling, indicating efficient sensory information processing due to their maturing priorities. Conversely, lower coupling at the high-order cortices suggests immature high-level cognitive functions during early infancy(Molloy 2022).
Fig. 1B depicts a logarithmic longitudinal changing pattern of the global structure-function coupling, with a faster change after birth which is slowing down later.
Fig. 1C displays the logarithmic slopes of ROI-wise structure-function coupling changes. The primary areas again show steeper decreases compared to the high-order areas. Only bilateral inferior prefrontal cortices and the temporal pole exhibit slightly increasing yet statistically insignificant coupling. This may indicate that the primary cortices develop faster with quicker indirect connection being formatted while functioning of the high-order cortices was still largely defined by their prototypic hard wiring(Dehaene-Lambertz 2015).
Fig. 2A reveals hemisphere disparities in the subnetwork-level structure-function coupling trajectories. The ventral attention network consistently exhibits a higher rightward coupling toward the right hemisphere, while the default mode network (DMN) shows a consistent leftward lateralization (Fig. 2B), suggesting their functional specialization(Baum 2020).
We found significant associations between the coupling of the right DMN/left frontoparietal control network (FPC) and fine motor skills (Fig. 2C&D), indicating that the structure-function coupling can predict developmental outcomes.
Fig. 1B depicts a logarithmic longitudinal changing pattern of the global structure-function coupling, with a faster change after birth which is slowing down later.
Fig. 1C displays the logarithmic slopes of ROI-wise structure-function coupling changes. The primary areas again show steeper decreases compared to the high-order areas. Only bilateral inferior prefrontal cortices and the temporal pole exhibit slightly increasing yet statistically insignificant coupling. This may indicate that the primary cortices develop faster with quicker indirect connection being formatted while functioning of the high-order cortices was still largely defined by their prototypic hard wiring(Dehaene-Lambertz 2015).
Fig. 2A reveals hemisphere disparities in the subnetwork-level structure-function coupling trajectories. The ventral attention network consistently exhibits a higher rightward coupling toward the right hemisphere, while the default mode network (DMN) shows a consistent leftward lateralization (Fig. 2B), suggesting their functional specialization(Baum 2020).
We found significant associations between the coupling of the right DMN/left frontoparietal control network (FPC) and fine motor skills (Fig. 2C&D), indicating that the structure-function coupling can predict developmental outcomes.
Conclusions:
We present infant brain structure-function coupling and their developmental trajectories for the first time, describing how the white matter structure is related with neuron activity in different regions and indicating rapidly developing functional specialization in early infancy and their neurodevelopmental significance.
Lifespan Development:
Normal Brain Development: Fetus to Adolescence 1
Modeling and Analysis Methods:
Connectivity (eg. functional, effective, structural) 2
Diffusion MRI Modeling and Analysis
fMRI Connectivity and Network Modeling
Novel Imaging Acquisition Methods:
BOLD fMRI
Keywords:
Computational Neuroscience
FUNCTIONAL MRI
Hemispheric Specialization
WHITE MATTER IMAGING - DTI, HARDI, DSI, ETC
Other - Structure-function coupling, early development, brain subnetwork
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Provide references using author date format
Dehaene-Lambertz, G. (2015). "The infancy of the human brain." Neuron 88(1): 93-109.
Howell, B. R. (2019). "The UNC/UMN Baby Connectome Project (BCP): An overview of the study design and protocol development." NeuroImage 185: 891-905.
Molloy, M. F. (2022). "Individual variability in functional organization of the neonatal brain." NeuroImage 253: 119101.
Mullen, E. M. (1995). Mullen scales of early learning, AGS Circle Pines, MN.
Schaefer, A. (2018). "Local-global parcellation of the human cerebral cortex from intrinsic functional connectivity MRI." Cerebral cortex 28(9): 3095-3114.
Suárez, L. E. (2020). "Linking structure and function in macroscale brain networks." Trends in cognitive sciences 24(4): 302-315.
Tierney, A. L. (2009). "Brain development and the role of experience in the early years." Zero to three 30(2): 9.
Yeo, B. T. (2011). "The organization of the human cerebral cortex estimated by intrinsic functional connectivity." Journal of neurophysiology.
Acknowledgements:
This work utilizes data acquired with support by an NIH grant (1U01MH110274) and the efforts of the UNC/UMN Baby Connectome Project (BCP) Consortium. This work is partially supported by The National Key Technology R&D Program (No. 2022ZD0209000), Shanghai Pilot Program for Basic Research - Chinese Academy of Science, Shanghai Branch (No. JCYJ-SHFY-2022-014), Open Research Fund Program of National Innovation Center for Advanced Medical Devices (No. NMED2021ZD-01-001), Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (No. KCXFZ20211020163408012), and Shanghai Pujiang Program (No.21PJ1421400).