Maturational networks of human fetal brain activity reveal emerging connectivity patterns prior to ex-utero exposure
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Karolis, Vyacheslav R
Fitzgibbon, Sean P
Cordero-Grande, Lucilio
Farahibozorg, Seyedeh-Rezvan
Price, Anthony N
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
A key feature of the fetal period is the rapid emergence of organised patterns of spontaneous brain activity. However, characterising this process in utero using functional MRI is inherently challenging and requires analytical methods which can capture the constituent developmental transformations. Here, we introduce a novel analytical framework, termed “maturational networks” (matnets), that achieves this by modelling functional networks as an emerging property of the developing brain. Compared to standard network analysis methods that assume consistent patterns of connectivity across development, our method incorporates age-related changes in connectivity directly into network estimation. We test its performance in a large neonatal sample, finding that the matnets approach characterises adult-like features of functional network architecture with a greater specificity than a standard group-ICA approach; for example, our approach is able to identify a nearly complete default mode network. In the in-utero brain, matnets enables us to reveal the richness of emerging functional connections and the hierarchy of their maturational relationships with remarkable anatomical specificity. We show that the associative areas play a central role within prenatal functional architecture, therefore indicating that functional connections of high-level associative areas start emerging prior to exposure to the extra-utero environment.
Date Issued
2023-06-22
Date Acceptance
2023-05-23
Citation
Communications Biology, 2023, 6
ISSN
2399-3642
Publisher
Nature Portfolio
Journal / Book Title
Communications Biology
Volume
6
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2023 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37349403
PII: 10.1038/s42003-023-04969-x
Subjects
Biology
BOLD
DEFAULT MODE
FUNCTIONAL MRI
ICA-AROMA
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Life Sciences & Biomedicine - Other Topics
MOTION
Multidisciplinary Sciences
RESTING-STATE FMRI
Science & Technology
Science & Technology - Other Topics
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Article Number
661
Date Publish Online
2023-06-22