title: Asymmetric development of dorsal and ventral attention networks in the human brain.
abstract: Two neural systems for goal-directed and stimulus-driven attention have been described in the adult human brain; the dorsal attention network (DAN) centered in the frontal eye fields (FEF) and intraparietal sulcus (IPS), and the ventral attention network (VAN) anchored in the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) and ventral frontal cortex (VFC). Little is known regarding the processes governing typical development of these attention networks in the brain. Here we use resting state functional MRI data collected from thirty 7 to 12 year-old children and thirty 18 to 31 year-old adults to examine two key regions of interest from the dorsal and ventral attention networks. We found that for the DAN nodes (IPS and FEF), children showed greater functional connectivity with regions within the network compared with adults, whereas adults showed greater functional connectivity between the FEF and extra-network regions including the posterior cingulate cortex. For the VAN nodes (TPJ and VFC), adults showed greater functional connectivity with regions within the network compared with children. Children showed greater functional connectivity between VFC and nodes of the salience network. This asymmetric pattern of development of attention networks may be a neural signature of the shift from over-representation of bottom-up attention mechanisms to greater top-down attentional capacities with development.
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, United States.
authors: Kristafor
authors: K
authors: Farrant
authors: Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, United States; Neuroscience Program, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, United States. Electronic address: l.uddin@miami.edu.
authors: Lucina Q
authors: LQ
authors: Uddin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Dorsal attention network; Functional connectivity; Resting state fMRI; Salience network; Typical development; Ventral attention network