title: Emergence of a hierarchical brain during infancy reflected by stepwise functional connectivity.
abstract: The hierarchical nature of the brain's functional organization has long been recognized, but when and how this architecture emerges during development remains largely unknown. Here the development of the brain's hierarchical organization was characterized using a modified stepwise functional connectivity approach based on resting-state fMRI in a fully longitudinal sample of infants (N = 28, with scans after birth, and at 1 and 2 years) and adults. Results obtained by placing seeds in early sensory cortices revealed novel hierarchical patterns of adult brain organization ultimately converging in limbic, paralimbic, basal ganglia, and frontoparietal brain regions. These findings are remarkably consistent with predictive coding accounts of neural processing that place these regions at the top of predictive coding hierarchies. Infants gradually developed toward this architecture in a region- and step-dependent manner, and displayed many of the same regions as adults in top hierarchical positions, starting from 1 year of age. The findings further revealed patterns of inter-sensory connectivity likely reflecting the emergence and development of multisensory processing strategies during infancy, the strengths of which were correlated with early cognitive development scores. Hum Brain Mapp 38:2666-2682, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Imaging, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Biomedical Imaging Research Institute, Los Angeles, California, 90048.
authors.forename: Suzanne L
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8918-2629
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Pendl
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Imaging, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Biomedical Imaging Research Institute, Los Angeles, California, 90048.
authors.forename: Andrew P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Salzwedel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, and FPG Child Development Institute, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599.
authors.forename: Barbara D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Goldman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115.|Department of Psychiatry and the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, Massachusetts, 02129.
authors.forename: Lisa F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Barrett
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599.
authors.forename: Weili
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599.
authors.forename: John H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Gilmore
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences and Imaging, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Biomedical Imaging Research Institute, Los Angeles, California, 90048.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000254:growth & development*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007223:Infant; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000254:growth & development*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D012677:Sensation / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
keywords: early brain development; hierarchical brain organization; predictive coding; sensory integration; stepwise functional connectivity