Functional development of the human cerebellum from birth to age five

Wenjiao Lyu, Kim-Han Thung, Khoi Minh Huynh, Li Wang, Weili Lin, Sahar Ahmad, Pew-Thian Yap

Abstract: Despite the cerebellum’s crucial role in brain function, its early development, particularly in relation to the cerebrum, remains poorly understood. Here, we examine cerebellocortical connectivity using over 1000 high-quality resting-state functional MRI scans from children between birth and five years of age. By mapping cerebellar topography with fine temporal granularity, we unveil the hierarchical organization of cerebellocortical functional connectivity from infancy. We observe dynamic shifts in cerebellar functional topography, which become more focal with age while largely maintaining stable anchor regions similar to adults, highlighting the cerebellum’s evolving yet organized role in functional integration during early development. Our findings demonstrate cerebellar connectivity to higher-order networks at birth, which generally strengthen with age, emphasizing the cerebellum’s early role in cognitive processing beyond sensory and motor functions. Our study provides insights into early cerebellocortical interactions, reveals functional asymmetry and sex-specific patterns in cerebellar development, and lays the groundwork for future research on cerebellum-related disorders in children. Using over 1,000 early childhood fMRI scans, the authors mapped cerebellocortical connectivity, revealing early integration with higher-order networks and age-related refinement, gradients, asymmetry, and sex-specific patterns.

External IDs:doi:10.1038/s41467-025-61465-y