Frontoparietal Structural Connectivity in Childhood Predicts Development of Functional Connectivity and Reasoning
Carter Wendelken1,2, Emilio Ferrer3, Simona Ghetti3
1Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, cwendelken@gmail.com sbunge@berkeley.edu.
Summary
Childhood white matter development, specifically structural connectivity (SC) between the rostrolateral prefrontal cortex and inferior parietal lobe, predicts future reasoning ability and functional connectivity (FC). This highlights the critical role of early brain development in cognitive function.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Reasoning ability shows concurrent relationships with frontoparietal structural connectivity (SC) and functional connectivity (FC).
- Previous research links reasoning ability to FC between the rostrolateral prefrontal cortex (RLPFC) and inferior parietal lobe (IPL).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate concurrent and dynamic, lead-lag relationships among frontoparietal SC, FC, and reasoning ability in humans.
- To examine how these relationships evolve during development.
Main Methods:
- Combined three longitudinal developmental datasets with behavioral and neuroimaging data from 523 participants aged 6-22.
- Utilized diffusion tensor imaging for SC and fMRI for FC.
- Analyzed cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships.
Main Results:
- Cross-sectionally, reasoning ability correlated with RLPFC-IPL FC in adolescents/adults, but frontoparietal SC in children.
- Longitudinally, RLPFC-IPL SC predicted future increases in reasoning ability, while FC did not.
- RLPFC-IPL SC predicted future changes in RLPFC-IPL FC, but not vice versa.
Conclusions:
- Strong white matter connectivity (SC) between RLPFC and IPL in childhood is crucial for developing robust functional connectivity (FC) and reasoning ability.
- Development of SC precedes and influences the development of FC and reasoning ability.
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