Tooley Ursula A, Kenley Jeanette K, Camacho M Catalina, Latham Aidan, Alexopoulos Dimitrios, Nielsen Ashley N, Smyser Tara A, Warner Barbara B, Shimony Joshua S, Neil Jeffrey J, Luby Joan L, Barch Deanna M, Rogers Cynthia E, Smyser Christopher D
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110.
Department of Neurology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63110.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025 Jun 10;122(23):e2412729122. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2412729122. Epub 2025 Jun 2.
How brain structure relates to function is a critical and open question in neuroscience. Here, we characterize regional variation in structure-function coupling, capturing the degree to which a cortical region's structural connections relate to patterns of coordinated neural activity in healthy, term-born neonates ( = 239). Regional structure-function coupling is heterogeneously patterned across the cortex, with higher coupling in the auditory, lateral prefrontal, and inferior parietal cortices. Average structure-function coupling is negatively associated with age during the first month of life, with age-associated decreases seen in primary sensory systems, specifically in auditory and somatomotor regions. Age-associated "decoupling" of structure and function reflects increasingly segregated patterns of functional connectivity and increasingly integrated patterns of white matter connectivity with age. Notably, higher structure-function coupling after accounting for age in the dorsal attention, cingulo-opercular, and visual systems at birth is associated with faster visuospatial attention to faces at one year of age. These results yield valuable insight into the development of structural and functional connectivity across the cortex, including how interregional variation in structure-function coupling during the first month of life might shape later attention.
大脑结构如何与功能相关是神经科学中一个关键且尚未解决的问题。在此，我们描述了结构 - 功能耦合的区域差异，获取了健康足月新生儿（ = 239）中皮质区域的结构连接与协调神经活动模式之间的关联程度。区域结构 - 功能耦合在整个皮质上呈现出异质性模式，在听觉、外侧前额叶和顶下皮质中耦合度更高。平均结构 - 功能耦合在生命的第一个月与年龄呈负相关，在主要感觉系统中可见与年龄相关的下降，特别是在听觉和躯体运动区域。结构与功能的年龄相关“解耦”反映出随着年龄增长，功能连接模式越来越分离，白质连接模式越来越整合。值得注意的是，出生时在背侧注意、扣带 - 脑岛和视觉系统中考虑年龄因素后，更高的结构 - 功能耦合与一岁时对面孔更快的视觉空间注意相关。这些结果为整个皮质的结构和功能连接的发展提供了有价值的见解，包括生命第一个月期间结构 - 功能耦合的区域间差异如何塑造后期的注意力。
