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The overgrowth of structure-function coupling in premature brain during infancy

Rong Wang1, Tianyu Fang1, Yue Zhang1

  • 1Medical School，Faculty of Medicine, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China; State Key Laboratory of Advanced Medical Materials and Devices, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China; Haihe Laboratory of Brain-Computer Interaction and Human-Machine Integration, Tianjin, China; Tianjin Key Laboratory of Brain Science and Neuroengineering, Tianjin, China.

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
|February 28, 2025
PubMed

Insights

Preterm infants show altered brain development, with faster structure-function coupling growth than full-term infants. This study reveals differences in early brain development and information processing in preterm infants.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Biology
  • Medical Imaging

Background:

  • Infant brain development involves rapid growth in structure and function.
  • The coupling between brain structure and function in infants is not well understood.
  • Understanding this coupling is crucial for identifying developmental trajectories.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the coupling between brain structure and function in infants.
  • To examine how prematurity affects this structure-function coupling.
  • To quantify developmental patterns in preterm infants' brains.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized multimodal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from the developing Human Connectome Project (dHCP) database.
  • Analyzed coupling patterns across different brain regions, including unimodal and transmodal cortices.
  • Compared structure-function coupling in preterm and full-term infants at term-equivalent age.

Main Results:

  • A similar pattern of coupling distribution was observed in both preterm and full-term infants.
  • Coupling varied across specific brain regions like visual, sensorimotor, and default mode network.
  • Preterm infants exhibited widespread overgrowth of structure-function coupling.
  • Preterm infants showed a slower developmental trajectory compared to full-term infants.

Conclusions:

  • The study successfully quantified structure-function relationships in the developing brains of preterm infants.
  • Findings offer new insights into information transmission processes in the early-life brain.
  • Highlights the impact of prematurity on brain development and functional connectivity.

Keywords:
Brain developmentDTIFunctional MRIInfantStructure-function coupling

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