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Functional connectivity of the sensorimotor area in naturally sleeping infants

Wen-Ching Liu1, Judy F Flax, Kevin G Guise

  • 1Department of Radiology, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School, 150 Bergen Street, Newark, NJ 07103, USA. wliu@umdnj.edu

Brain Research
|July 5, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Researchers studied brain connectivity in sleeping infants using advanced MRI. They found more connections within one brain hemisphere than between hemispheres in the sensorimotor cortex of infants.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Neuroscience
  • Functional Neuroimaging

Background:

  • Cortical functional connectivity is crucial for brain development.
  • Understanding infant brain networks requires non-invasive methods suitable for natural sleep.
  • Very low frequency oscillations reflect hemodynamic activity and allow for neurophysiologic connectivity computation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine patterns of cortical functional connectivity in normal infants during natural sleep.
  • To compute neurophysiologic connectivity in naturally sleeping infants using a novel non-invasive imaging technique.
  • To investigate the role of slow cortical oscillations in early brain development and network lateralization.

Main Methods:

  • Acquired structural and resting-state magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from 11 infants (mean age 12.8 months).
  • Processed resting-state data using independent component analysis (ICA) to identify functional connectivity.
  • Utilized power spectral analysis to characterize slow frequency oscillations (peak at 0.02 Hz) in the hemodynamic signal.

Main Results:

  • Identified significant functional connectivity within the sensorimotor area.
  • Observed unilateral functional connectivity in developing sensory-motor cortices.
  • Found greater intrahemispheric than interhemispheric connectivity in the sensorimotor cortex of sleeping infants.

Conclusions:

  • The study provides the first computation of neurophysiologic connectivity in naturally sleeping infants.
  • Results suggest a developmental pattern favoring intrahemispheric connectivity in the infant sensorimotor cortex.
  • The non-invasive technique facilitates the study of early brain development and network lateralization.

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