Fine-grained functional parcellation maps of the infant cerebral cortex

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Developmental Neuroscience
• Pediatric Brain Mapping

Background:

• Resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) is crucial for studying infant brain development.
• Existing functional parcellation maps are adult-based and unsuitable for infants due to differing brain organization.
• Developing infant-specific maps is essential but challenging due to data acquisition and processing difficulties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop the first set of infant-specific, fine-grained, surface-based cortical functional parcellation maps.
• To address the limitations of using adult-derived maps in pediatric neuroimaging.
• To provide a resource for understanding early brain functional development.

Main Methods:

• Utilized 1064 longitudinal rs-fMRI scans from 197 infants (birth to 24 months) from the Baby Connectome Project.
• Employed cortical co-registration based on geometric folding features and functional connectivity (FC) gradients.
• Generated age-related and age-independent parcellation maps with over 800 parcels using aligned FC gradient data.

Main Results:

• Developed novel infant-specific cortical functional parcellation maps.
• Revealed complex functional development patterns in early infancy (first 9 months).
• Identified changes in local gradient, network size, and local efficiency during early development.

Conclusions:

• The created fine-grained infant cortical functional parcellation maps are a valuable resource for pediatric neuroimaging.
• These maps enable more accurate studies of dynamic brain functional development in infants.
• Public availability of these maps (https://www.nitrc.org/projects/infantsurfatlas/) will advance the field.