Charting brain functional development from birth to 6 years of age

Weiyan Yin, Tengfei Li, Zhengwang Wu, Sheng-Che Hung, Dan Hu, Yiding Gui, Seoyoon Cho, Yue Sun, Mackenzie Allan Woodburn, Li Wang, Gang Li, Joseph Piven, Jed T. Elison, Changwei W. Wu, Hongtu Zhu, Jessica R. Cohen, Weili Lin, Joe Piven, John Gilmore, Dinggang Shen et al. (9 additional authors not shown)

Abstract: Early childhood is crucial for brain functional development. Using advanced neuroimaging methods, characterizing functional connectivity has shed light on the developmental process in infants. However, insights into spatiotemporal functional maturation from birth to early childhood are substantially lacking. In this study, we aggregated 1,091 resting-state functional MRI scans of typically developing children from birth to 6 years of age, harmonized the cohort and imaging-state-related bias, and delineated developmental charts of functional connectivity within and between canonical brain networks. These charts revealed potential neurodevelopmental milestones and elucidated the complex development of brain functional integration, competition and transition processes. We further determined that individual deviations from normative growth charts are significantly associated with infant cognitive abilities. Specifically, connections involving the primary, default, control and attention networks were key predictors. Our findings elucidate early neurodevelopment and suggest that functional connectivity-derived brain charts may provide an effective tool to monitor normative functional development. Yin et al. harmonized 1,091 fMRI scans across five imaging cohorts to map developmental trajectories of brain functional connectivity in early childhood, revealing early brain development and its links to cognitive abilities.

External IDs:doi:10.1038/s41562-025-02160-2