Division of Developmental Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard University, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences & Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; Centre for the Developing Brain, Department of Perinatal Imaging and Health, School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, King's College London, London, UK.
Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2018 Nov;34:63-74. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2018.06.004. Epub 2018 Jul 21.
Although the amygdala's role in shaping social behavior is especially important during early post-natal development, very little is known of amygdala functional development before childhood. To address this gap, this study uses resting-state fMRI to examine early amygdalar functional network development in a cross-sectional sample of 80 children from 3-months to 5-years of age. Whole brain functional connectivity with the amygdala, and its laterobasal and superficial sub-regions, were largely similar to those seen in older children and adults. Functional distinctions between sub-region networks were already established. These patterns suggest many amygdala functional circuits are intact from infancy, especially those that are part of motor, visual, auditory and subcortical networks. Developmental changes in connectivity were observed between the laterobasal nucleus and bilateral ventral temporal and motor cortex as well as between the superficial nuclei and medial thalamus, occipital cortex and a different region of motor cortex. These results show amygdala-subcortical and sensory-cortex connectivity begins refinement prior to childhood, though connectivity changes with associative and frontal cortical areas, seen after early childhood, were not evident in this age range. These findings represent early steps in understanding amygdala network dynamics across infancy through early childhood, an important period of emotional and cognitive development.
尽管杏仁核在塑造社交行为方面的作用在出生后早期发育阶段尤为重要，但人们对儿童期前杏仁核功能的发展知之甚少。为了弥补这一空白，本研究使用静息态 fMRI 技术，在一个由 80 名 3 个月至 5 岁儿童组成的横断面样本中，研究了早期杏仁核功能网络的发育情况。与年龄较大的儿童和成年人相比，杏仁核与全脑的功能连接及其外侧基底和浅层亚区的功能连接非常相似。亚区网络之间的功能差异已经建立。这些模式表明，许多杏仁核功能回路从婴儿期就已经完整，尤其是那些构成运动、视觉、听觉和皮质下网络的回路。在外侧基底核与双侧腹侧颞叶和运动皮层之间以及在浅层核与内侧丘脑、枕叶和运动皮层的另一个区域之间观察到连接的发育变化。这些结果表明，杏仁核与皮质下和感觉皮层的连接在儿童期之前开始细化，尽管在这个年龄段没有发现与联合和额皮质区域相关的连接变化，但在儿童早期之后就已经出现了这些变化。这些发现代表了在婴儿期到儿童早期这一重要的情感和认知发展时期，理解杏仁核网络动态的早期步骤。
