Kubota Emily, Yan Xiaoqian, Tung Sarah, Fascendini Bella, Tyagi Christina, Duhameau Sophie, Ortiz Danya, Grotheer Mareike, Natu Vaidehi S, Keil Boris, Grill-Spector Kalanit
Department of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
Institute of Science and Technology for Brain-Inspired Intelligence, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Nat Hum Behav. 2025 Mar 17. doi: 10.1038/s41562-025-02116-6.
Category-selective regions in ventral temporal cortex (VTC) have a consistent anatomical organization, which is hypothesized to be scaffolded by white matter connections. However, it is unknown how white matter connections are organized from birth. Here we scanned newborn to 6-month-old infants and adults to determine the organization of the white matter connections of VTC. We find that white matter connections are organized by cytoarchitecture, eccentricity and category from birth. Connectivity profiles of functional regions in the same cytoarchitectonic area are similar from birth and develop in parallel, with decreases in endpoint connectivity to lateral occipital, parietal and somatosensory cortex, and increases in connectivity to lateral prefrontal cortex. In addition, connections between VTC and early visual cortex are organized topographically by eccentricity bands and predict eccentricity biases in VTC. These data show that there are both innate organizing principles of white matter connections of VTC, and capacity for white matter connections to change over development.
腹侧颞叶皮层（VTC）中的类别选择性区域具有一致的解剖组织，据推测这种组织由白质连接搭建而成。然而，白质连接从出生起是如何组织的尚不清楚。在这里，我们对新生儿至6个月大的婴儿以及成年人进行扫描，以确定VTC白质连接的组织方式。我们发现，白质连接从出生起就按照细胞结构、偏心率和类别进行组织。同一细胞构筑区域内功能区的连接模式从出生起就相似且并行发展，与枕叶外侧、顶叶和体感皮层的端点连接减少，而与外侧前额叶皮层的连接增加。此外，VTC与早期视觉皮层之间的连接按偏心率带进行拓扑组织，并预测VTC中的偏心率偏差。这些数据表明，VTC白质连接既有先天的组织原则，也有在发育过程中发生变化的能力。
