The Subgrouping Structure of Newborns with Heterogenous Brain-Behavior Relationships
Yuanyuan Chen1, Shuxin Liu1,2, Andrew Salzwedel1
1Department of Biomedical Sciences and Imaging, Biomedical Imaging Research Institute (BIRI), Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA.
Insights
Newborn brain-behavior relationships show heterogeneity, impacting later intelligence quotient (IQ) development. Identifying these subgroups can lead to personalized developmental predictions.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Biostatistics
Background:
- Heterogeneity in infant brain and behavior is known.
- Limited research explores heterogeneity in brain-behavior relationships.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate relationship-level heterogeneity in newborns.
- Identify subgroups with distinct brain-behavior associations.
- Examine links to developmental outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Analyzed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from 81 infants.
- Assessed intelligence quotient (IQ) at 4 years.
- Delineated subgroups based on brain-behavior associations.
Main Results:
- Confirmed relationship-level heterogeneity in newborns.
- Identified two subgroups with similar brain connectivity but different brain-behavior links.
- Higher IQ subgroup showed congruent brain-behavior relationships; lower IQ subgroup did not.
Conclusions:
- Brain-behavior relationship heterogeneity exists in newborns.
- This heterogeneity influences developmental trajectories, specifically IQ.
- Findings support personalized, subgroup-specific predictive models for infant development.
Abstract:
The presence of heterogeneity/subgroups in infants and older populations against single-domain brain or behavioral measures has been previously characterized. However, few attempts have been made to explore heterogeneity at the brain-behavior relationship level. Such a hypothesis posits that different subgroups of infants may possess qualitatively different brain-behavior relationships that could ultimately contribute to divergent developmental outcomes even with relatively similar brain phenotypes. In this study, we aimed to explore such relationship-level heterogeneity and delineate the subgrouping structure of newborns with differential brain-behavior associations based on a typically developing sample of 81 infants with 3-week resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans and 4-year intelligence quotient (IQ) measures. Our results not only confirmed the existence of relationship-level heterogeneity in newborns but also revealed divergent developmental outcomes associated with two subgroups showing similar brain functional connectivity but contrasting brain-behavior relationships. Importantly, further analyses unveiled an intriguing pattern that the subgroup with higher 4-year IQ outcomes possessed brain-behavior relationships that were congruent to their functional connectivity pattern in neonates while the subgroup with lower 4-year IQ not, providing potential explanations for the observed IQ differences. The characterization of heterogeneity at the brain-behavior relationship level may not only improve our understanding of the patterned intersubject variability during infancy but could also pave the way for future development of heterogeneity-inspired, personalized, subgroup-specific models for better prediction.
