Differences between the child and adult brain in the local functional structure of the cerebral cortex

Bibliographic Details
Title: Differences between the child and adult brain in the local functional structure of the cerebral cortex
Authors: Jesus Pujol, Laura Blanco-Hinojo, Didac Macia, Gerard Martínez-Vilavella, Joan Deus, Víctor Pérez-Sola, Narcís Cardoner, Carles Soriano-Mas, Jordi Sunyer
Source: NeuroImage, Vol 237, Iss , Pp 118150- (2021)
Publisher Information: Elsevier, 2021.
Publication Year: 2021
Collection: LCC:Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Subject Terms: Brain development, Cortical maturation, Frontal lobe, Functional structure, Neuronal network, Functional connectivity, Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry, RC321-571
More Details: Imaging studies on neuronal network formation provide relevant information as to how the brain matures during adolescence. We used a novel imaging approach combining well-established MRI measures of local functional connectivity that jointly provide qualitatively different information relating to the functional structure of the cerebral cortex. To investigate the adolescent transition into adulthood, we comparatively assessed 169 preadolescents aged 8–12 years and 121 healthy adults. Whole-brain functional connectivity maps were generated using multi-distance measures of intracortical neural activity coupling defined within iso-distant local areas. Such Iso-Distant Average Correlation (IDAC) measures therefore represent the average temporal correlation of a given brain unit, or voxel, with other units situated at increasingly separated iso-distant intervals. The results indicated that between-group differences in the functional structure of the cerebral cortex are extensive and implicate part of the lateral prefrontal cortex, a medial frontal/anterior cingulate region, the superior parietal lobe extending to the somatosensory strip and posterior cingulate cortex, and local connections within the visual cortex, hippocampus, amygdala and insula. We thus provided detail of the cerebral cortex functional structure maturation during the transition to adulthood, which may serve to establish more accurate links between adolescent performance gains and cerebral cortex maturation. Remarkably, our study provides new information as to the cortical maturation processes in prefrontal areas relevant to executive functioning and rational learning, medial frontal areas playing an active role in the cognitive appraisal of emotion and anxiety, and superior parietal cortices strongly associated with bodily self-consciousness in the context of body image formation.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 1095-9572
Relation: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811921004274; https://doaj.org/toc/1095-9572
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118150
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/e8d9c08419a64441b0169d944d5231f2
Accession Number: edsdoj.8d9c08419a64441b0169d944d5231f2
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:10959572
DOI:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118150
Published in:NeuroImage
Language:English