Co-ordinated structural and functional covariance in the adolescent brain underlies face processing performance
Daniel Joel Shaw1, Radek Mareček2, Marie-Helene Grosbras3
1Behavioral and Social Neuroscience Research Group, CEITEC - Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
|January 17, 2016
Summary
Adolescent brain development shows increasing functional and structural connections in face processing networks. This maturation enhances social cue interpretation, especially in females.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Adolescence is a critical period for social development and the maturation of face processing abilities.
- Previous research suggests changes in brain structure and function support these developing social skills.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the parallel development of structural and functional aspects of neural systems involved in face processing during adolescence.
- To examine the relationship between neural maturation and improvements in face processing performance.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal neuroimaging study of 38 adolescents (ages 10-15).
- Multivariate analyses combining task-related functional connectivity and brain morphology measures.
- Analysis of neural responses to ambiguous faces.
Main Results:
- Increased structural covariance and functional connectivity in distal nodes of the face-processing network were observed with age.
- Functional connectivity maturation was tightly coupled with structural covariance development.
- Enhanced functional connectivity correlated with improved face processing, particularly in females.
Conclusions:
- Findings indicate a synchronized maturation of structure and function within the face-processing network during adolescence.
- This neural integration likely enhances the extraction of social information from faces.
- The results highlight the importance of neural network development for social cognition in adolescence.
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