Tu Jiaxin Cindy, Myers Michael J, Li Wei, Li Jiaqi, Wang Xintian, Dierker Donna, Day Trevor K M, Snyder Abraham, Latham Aidan, Kenley Jeanette K, Sobolewski Chloe M, Wang Yu, Labonte Alyssa K, Feczko Eric, Kardan Omid, Moore Lucille A, Sylvester Chad M, Fair Damien A, Elison Jed T, Warner Barbara B, Barch Deanna M, Rogers Cynthia E, Luby Joan L, Smyser Christopher D, Gordon Evan M, Laumann Timothy O, Eggebrecht Adam T, Wheelock Muriah D
Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University in St. Louis, 4525 Scott Ave, St. Louis, MO 63110, United States.
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130, United States.
Cereb Cortex. 2025 May 1;35(5). doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf116.
The cerebral cortex consists of distinct areas that develop through intrinsic embryonic patterning and postnatal experiences. Accurate parcellation of these areas in neuroimaging studies improves statistical power and cross-study comparability. Given significant brain changes in volume, microstructure, and connectivity during early life, we hypothesized that cortical areas in 1- to 3-year-olds would differ markedly from neonates and increasingly resemble adult patterns as development progresses. Here, we parcellated the cerebral cortex into putative areas using local functional connectivity (FC) gradients in 92 toddlers at 2 years old. We demonstrate high reproducibility of these cortical areas across 1- to 3-year-olds in two independent datasets. The area boundaries in 1- to 3-year-olds were more similar to those in adults than those in neonates. While the age-specific group area parcellation better fits the underlying FC in individuals during the first 3 years, adult area parcellations still have utility in developmental studies, especially in children older than 6 years. Additionally, we provide connectivity-based community assignments of the area parcels, showing fragmented anterior and posterior components based on the strongest connectivity, yet alignment with adult systems when weaker connectivity was included.
大脑皮层由通过内在胚胎模式和出生后经历发育而成的不同区域组成。在神经影像学研究中对这些区域进行准确的划分可提高统计功效和跨研究的可比性。鉴于生命早期大脑在体积、微观结构和连通性方面发生的显著变化，我们推测1至3岁儿童的皮质区域将与新生儿有显著差异，并且随着发育的进行会越来越类似于成人模式。在此，我们利用局部功能连接（FC）梯度将92名2岁幼儿的大脑皮层划分为假定区域。我们在两个独立数据集中证明了这些皮质区域在1至3岁儿童中的高重复性。1至3岁儿童的区域边界比新生儿的更类似于成人的边界。虽然特定年龄组的区域划分在前3年能更好地拟合个体潜在的FC，但成人区域划分在发育研究中仍有用处，尤其是在6岁以上的儿童中。此外，我们提供了基于连通性的区域块社区分配，显示基于最强连通性的前后部分碎片化，但当纳入较弱连通性时与成人系统对齐。
