Dev-Atlas: A reference atlas of functional brain networks for typically developing adolescents

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Neuroscience
• Brain Imaging

Background:

• The adolescent brain undergoes significant network reorganization.
• A lack of adolescent-specific functional brain atlases hinders research.
• Reference atlases are crucial for identifying functional brain networks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an adolescent-specific reference functional brain atlas.
• To investigate age and sex effects on functional brain networks in youth.
• To provide a tool for developmental neuroscience studies.

Main Methods:

• Utilized resting-state functional MRI data from 1391 typically-developing adolescents (ages 8-17).
• Applied a multiscale individual component clustering algorithm to identify functional brain networks.
• Analyzed age and sex influences on network topography and connectivity.

Main Results:

• Identified 24 reliable functional brain networks across six domains (Default-Mode, Control, Salience, Attention, Somatomotor, Visual).
• Observed significant age-related effects on the spatial topography and functional connectivity of most networks.
• Found less widespread effects of sex on brain networks.

Conclusions:

• Developed 'Dev-Atlas', a novel functional brain atlas for typically-developing adolescents.
• The atlas highlights substantial age-related brain development during adolescence.
• Dev-Atlas serves as a valuable resource for future developmental neuroscience research.