Yan Zhi-Xiong, He Zhe, Jiang Ling-Hui, Zou Xia
Guangxi Center of Developmental Population Neuroscience, Nanning Normal University, Nanning, China.
Continuing Education School, Guangxi College for Preschool Education, Nanning, China.
Front Psychol. 2024 Apr 22;15:1348781. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1348781. eCollection 2024.
Age-related trajectories of intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC), which represent the interconnections between discrete regions of the human brain, for processes related to social cognition (SC) provide evidence for social development through neural imaging and can guide clinical interventions when such development is atypical. However, due to the lack of studies investigating brain development over a wide range of ages, the neural mechanisms of SC remain poorly understood, although considerable behavior-related evidence is available. The present study mapped vortex-wise iFC features between SC networks and the entire cerebral cortex by using common functional networks, creating the corresponding age-related trajectories. Three networks [moral cognition, theory of mind (ToM), and empathy] were selected as representative SC networks. The Enhanced Nathan Kline Institute-Rockland Sample (NKI-RS, = 316, ages 8-83 years old) was employed delineate iFC characteristics and construct trajectories. The results showed that the SC networks display unique and overlapping iFC profiles. The iFC of the empathy network, an age-sensitive network, with dorsal attention network was found to exhibit a linear increasing pattern, that of the ventral attention network was observed to exhibit a linear decreasing pattern, and that of the somatomotor and dorsal attention networks was noted to exhibit a quadric-concave iFC pattern. Additionally, a sex-specific effect was observed for the empathy network as it exhibits linear and quadric sex-based differences in iFC with the frontoparietal and vision networks, respectively. The iFC of the ToM network with the ventral attention network exhibits a pronounced quadric-convex (inverted U-shape) trajectory. No linear or quadratic trajectories were noted in the iFC of the moral cognition network. These findings indicate that SC networks exhibit iFC with both low-level (somatomotor, vision) and high-level (attention and control) networks along specific developmental trajectories. The age-related trajectories determined in this study advance our understanding of the neural mechanisms of SC, providing valuable references for identification and intervention in cases of development of atypical SC.
与年龄相关的内在功能连接性（iFC）轨迹，代表了人类大脑离散区域之间的相互连接，对于与社会认知（SC）相关的过程而言，通过神经成像为社会发展提供了证据，并且当这种发展不典型时可以指导临床干预。然而，由于缺乏对广泛年龄范围内大脑发育的研究，尽管有大量与行为相关的证据，但SC的神经机制仍知之甚少。本研究通过使用常见功能网络绘制了SC网络与整个大脑皮层之间的逐涡旋iFC特征，创建了相应的与年龄相关的轨迹。选择了三个网络[道德认知、心理理论（ToM）和共情]作为代表性的SC网络。采用增强型内森·克莱因研究所-罗克兰样本（NKI-RS，n = 316，年龄8至83岁）来描绘iFC特征并构建轨迹。结果表明，SC网络显示出独特且重叠的iFC概况。发现共情网络（一个对年龄敏感的网络）与背侧注意网络的iFC呈现线性增加模式，腹侧注意网络的iFC呈现线性下降模式，躯体运动和背侧注意网络的iFC呈现二次凹形模式。此外，观察到共情网络存在性别特异性效应，因为它在与额顶叶和视觉网络的iFC中分别表现出基于性别的线性和二次差异。ToM网络与腹侧注意网络的iFC呈现出明显的二次凸形（倒U形）轨迹。道德认知网络的iFC中未观察到线性或二次轨迹。这些发现表明，SC网络沿着特定的发育轨迹与低水平（躯体运动、视觉）和高水平（注意和控制）网络都表现出iFC。本研究确定的与年龄相关的轨迹推进了我们对SC神经机制的理解，为非典型SC发展病例的识别和干预提供了有价值的参考。
