Intrinsic brain activity is increasingly complex and develops asymmetrically during childhood and early adolescence

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Neuroscience
• Brain Imaging

Background:

• Brain signal complexity (BSC) is linked to brain health and disease.
• Understanding BSC dynamics in developing large-scale brain networks is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the developmental trajectory of BSC in children.
• To identify factors influencing BSC dynamics in functional brain networks.

Main Methods:

• Resting-state functional near-infrared spectroscopy (rs-fNIRS) was used.
• 107 healthy children aged 6-13 years participated.
• Machine learning models predicted age from BSC.

Main Results:

• BSC increased with age in default mode (DMN) and attentional (ATN) networks.
• Asymmetrical, age-dependent laterality in ATN networks was observed, more pronounced in females.
• BSC reliably predicted chronological age, especially in DMN and dorsal ATN.

Conclusions:

• Spatiotemporal patterns of BSC evolve during childhood and adolescence.
• Network-based BSC is a promising marker for tracking normative brain development.
• BSC may help detect atypical developmental trajectories early.