Changing brain connectivity dynamics: From early childhood to adulthood

Brain maturation through adolescence has been the topic of recent studies. Previous works have evaluated changes in morphometry and also changes in functional connectivity. However, most resting-state fMRI studies have focused on static connectivity. Here we examine the relationship between age/maturity and the dynamics of brain functional connectivity. Utilizing a resting fMRI dataset comprised 421 subjects ages 3-22 from the PING study, we first performed group ICA to extract independent components and their time courses. Next, dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) was calculated via a sliding window followed by clustering of connectivity patterns into 5 states. Finally, we evaluated the relationship between age and the amount of time each participant spent in each state as well as the transitions among different states. Results showed that older participants tend to spend more time in states which reflect overall stronger connectivity patterns throughout the brain. In addition, the relationship between age and state transition is symmetric. This can mean individuals change functional connectivity through time within a specific set of states. On the whole, results indicated that dynamic functional connectivity is an important factor to consider when examining brain development across childhood.