Decreased centrality of subcortical regions during the transition to adolescence: A functional connectivity study

Author(s):Show less -

Sato, Joao Ricardo ^{[1, 2, 3]} ; Salum, Giovanni Abrahao ^{[4, 2]} ; Gadelha, Ary ^{[2, 3]} ; Vieira, Gilson ^{[5, 6]} ; Zugman, Andre ^{[2, 3]} ; Picon, Felipe Almeida ^{[4, 2]} ; Pan, Pedro Mario ^{[2, 3]} ; Hoexter, Marcelo Queiroz ^{[2, 3, 7]} ; Anes, Mauricio ^{[4, 2]} ; Moura, Luciana Monteiro ^{[2, 3]} ; Gomes Del'Aquilla, Marco Antonio ^{[2, 3]} ; Crossley, Nicolas ^[8] ; Amaro Junior, Edson ^[5] ; Mcguire, Philip ^[8] ; Lacerda, Acioly L. T. ^{[2, 3]} ; Rohde, Luis Augusto ^{[4, 2]} ; Miguel, Euripedes Constantino ^[2] ; Jackowski, Andrea Parolin ^{[2, 3]} ; Bressan, Rodrigo Affonseca ^{[2, 3]}

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Fed ABC, Ctr Math Computat & Cognit, Santo Andre - Brazil

^[2] CNPq, Natl Inst Dev Psychiat Children & Adolescents, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[3] Univ Fed Sao Paulo, Interdisciplinary Lab Clin Neurosci LiNC, UNIFESP, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[4] Univ Fed Rio Grande do Sul, Dept Psychiat, Porto Alegre, RS - Brazil

^[5] Univ Sao Paulo, Sch Med, Dept Radiol, BR-05508 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[6] Univ Sao Paulo, Bioinformat Program, Inst Math & Stat, BR-05508 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[7] Univ Sao Paulo, Sch Med, Dept Psychiat, BR-05508 Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[8] Kings Coll London, Inst Psychiat, London WC2R 2LS - England

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: NeuroImage; v. 104, p. 44-51, JAN 1 2014.
• Web of Science Citations: 23

Abstract

Investigations of brain maturation processes are a key step to understand the cognitive and emotional changes of adolescence. Although structural imaging findings have delineated clear brain developmental trajectories for typically developing individuals, less is known about the functional changes of this sensitive development period. Developmental changes, such as abstract thought, complex reasoning, and emotional and inhibitory control, have been associated with more prominent cortical control. The aim of this study is to assess brain networks connectivity changes in a large sample of 7- to 15-year-old subjects, testing the hypothesis that cortical regions will present an increasing relevance in commanding the global network. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected in a sample of 447 typically developing children from a Brazilian community sample who were submitted to a resting state acquisition protocol. The fMRI data were used to build a functional weighted graph from which eigenvector centrality (EVC) was extracted. For each brain region (a node of the graph), the age-dependent effect on EVC was statistically tested and the developmental trajectories were estimated using polynomial functions. Our findings show that angular gyrus become more central during this maturation period, while the caudate; cerebellar tonsils, pyramis, thalamus; fusiform, parahippocampal and inferior semilunar lobe become less central. In conclusion, we report a novel finding of an increasing centrality of the angular gyrus during the transition to adolescence, with a decreasing centrality of many subcortical and cerebellar regions. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 13/00506-1 - Time series, wavelets and functional data analysis
• Grantee: Pedro Alberto Morettin
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 13/10498-6 - Machine learning in neuroimaging: development of methods and clinical applications in psychiatric disorders
• Grantee: João Ricardo Sato
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 08/57896-8 - National Institute for Developmental Psychiatry
• Grantee: Eurípedes Constantino Miguel Filho
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants