Specialization and integration of functional thalamocortical connectivity in the human infant.
Connections between the thalamus and cortex develop rapidly before birth, and aberrant cerebral maturation during this period may underlie a number of neurodevelopmental disorders. To define functional thalamocortical connectivity at the normal time of birth, we used functional MRI (fMRI) to measure blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals in 66 infants, 47 of whom were at high risk of neurocognitive impairment because of birth before 33 wk of gestation and 19 of whom were term infants. We segmented the thalamus based on correlation with functionally defined cortical components using independent component analysis (ICA) and seed-based correlations. After parcellating the cortex using ICA and segmenting the thalamus based on dominant connections with cortical parcellations, we observed a near-facsimile of the adult functional parcellation. Additional analysis revealed that BOLD signal in heteromodal association cortex typically had more widespread and overlapping thalamic representations than primary sensory cortex. Notably, more extreme prematurity was associated with increased functional connectivity between thalamus and lateral primary sensory cortex but reduced connectivity between thalamus and cortex in the prefrontal, insular and anterior cingulate regions. This work suggests that, in early infancy, functional integration through thalamocortical connections depends on significant functional overlap in the topographic organization of the thalamus and that the experience of premature extrauterine life modulates network development, altering the maturation of networks thought to support salience, executive, integrative, and cognitive functions.
Centre for the Developing Brain, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, St. Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, United Kingdom;
Hilary
H
Toulmin
Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, 6500 HC, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Radboud University Medical Centre, 6500 HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Oxford Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain (FMRIB), University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU, United Kingdom;
Christian F
CF
Beckmann
Centre for the Developing Brain, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, St. Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, United Kingdom; Department of Neuroimaging Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London SE5 8AF, United Kingdom;
Jonathan
J
O'Muircheartaigh
Centre for the Developing Brain, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, St. Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, United Kingdom;
Gareth
G
Ball
Department of Paediatrics, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare Trust, London W12 0HS, United Kingdom;
Pumza
P
Nongena
Centre for the Developing Brain, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, St. Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, United Kingdom; Department of Paediatrics, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare Trust, London W12 0HS, United Kingdom;
Antonios
A
Makropoulos
Department of Paediatrics, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare Trust, London W12 0HS, United Kingdom;
Ashraf
A
Ederies
Centre for the Developing Brain, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, St. Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, United Kingdom;
Serena J
SJ
Counsell
Neonatal Unit, St. George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London SW17 0NN, United Kingdom.
Nigel
N
Kennea
Centre for the Developing Brain, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, St. Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, United Kingdom; Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom; and.
Tomoki
T
Arichi
Centre for the Developing Brain, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, St. Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, United Kingdom;
Nora
N
Tusor
Centre for the Developing Brain, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, St. Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, United Kingdom;
Mary A
MA
Rutherford
Centre for the Developing Brain, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, St. Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, United Kingdom;
Denis
D
Azzopardi
Department of Paediatrics, Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College Healthcare Trust, London W12 0HS, United Kingdom;
Nuria
N
Gonzalez-Cinca
Centre for the Developing Brain, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, St. Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, United Kingdom;
Joseph V
JV
Hajnal
Centre for the Developing Brain, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, St. Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, United Kingdom; Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom; and ad.edwards@kcl.ac.uk.
A David
AD
Edwards
D000367:Age Factors; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D013788:Thalamus / Q000502:physiology*
D010100:Oxygen
cortex; functional connectivity; preterm; resting-state fMRI; thalamus