Development of navigation network revealed by resting-state and task-state functional connectivity.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Developmental Neuroscience

Background:

• Human spatial navigation relies on a distributed navigation network.
• Previous research focused on medial temporal lobe development, leaving large-scale network organization unclear.
• Developmental differences in resting-state versus task-state network organization are unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the large-scale organization and development of the human navigation network.
• To compare network organization between children and adults.
• To examine differences in network organization between resting-state and task-state.

Main Methods:

• Examined functional connectivity (FC) of the navigation network in 122 children (10-13 years) and 260 adults.
• Identified modular structure (ventral and dorsal modules) during resting-state.
• Compared FC during resting-state and a scene-viewing task.

Main Results:

• A modular structure (ventral and dorsal modules) was identified in the resting-state navigation network.
• Network modularity increased with age: adults had stronger within-ventral FC and weaker between-module FC than children.
• Task performance decreased within-module FC and increased between-module FC, with greater task-modulated changes in adults.
• Adults exhibit increased modularity at rest and increased flexibility during tasks compared to children.

Conclusions:

• The navigation network exhibits age-related changes in organization.
• Resting-state reveals increasing modularity from childhood to adulthood.
• Task-state reveals increasing flexibility with age, indicating enhanced cognitive adaptability.