title: Functional connectivity between parietal and frontal brain regions and intelligence in young children: the Generation R study.
abstract: It has been shown in adults that individual differences in intelligence are related to the integrity of the interaction between parietal and frontal brain regions. Since connectivity between distant brain regions strengthens during childhood, it is unclear when in the course of development this relationship emerges. Thus, the goal of this study was to determine whether parietal-frontal functional connectivity is associated with intelligence in young children. We performed independent component analyses on resting-state fMRI data of 115 children (6-8 years old) to select seed and target regions for a seed/target region correlation analysis. We found that higher nonverbal intelligence was associated with increased functional connectivity between right parietal and right frontal regions, and between right parietal and dorsal anterior cingulate regions. The association between intelligence and functional connectivity between certain brain regions was stronger in girls than boys. In conclusion, we found that connectivity between the parietal and frontal lobes is critically involved in intelligence in young children.
authors.affiliation: The Generation R Study Group, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry/Psychology, Erasmus MC - Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.
authors.forename: Sandra J E
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Langeslag
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Akhgar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ghassabian
authors.forename: Vincent W
authors.initials: VW
authors.lastname: Jaddoe
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hofman
authors.forename: Aad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van der Lugt
authors.forename: Frank C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Verhulst
authors.forename: Henning
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tiemeier
authors.forename: Tonya J H
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: White
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007360:Intelligence / Q000502:physiology*; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors