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Hidden Rhythms of a Developing Brain: Multimetric rs-fMRI Insights Into Typical Youth Maturation
Merida Galilea Tapia-Medina1,2,3, Raquel Cosío-Guirado1,2,3, Maribel Peró-Cebollero1,2,3
1Department of Social Psychology and Quantitative Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Human Brain Mapping
|August 29, 2025
Summary
Brain connectivity generally decreases with age in youth, showing declining local and interhemispheric function. This study used resting-state fMRI metrics to map typical brain maturation from childhood to adolescence.
Area of Science:
- Developmental neuroscience
- Neuroimaging
- Brain maturation
Background:
- Understanding typical brain development is crucial for identifying neurodevelopmental trajectories.
- Resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) is a key tool, but few studies integrate multiple functional metrics for comprehensive maturation characterization.
- This study addresses this gap by examining multiple rs-fMRI metrics in a large cohort of neurotypical youth.
Purpose of the Study:
- To comprehensively characterize typical brain maturation across childhood and adolescence using multiple rs-fMRI metrics.
- To identify age-related changes in local and interhemispheric functional connectivity.
- To establish a robust framework for assessing typical brain development and identifying deviations in clinical populations.
Main Methods:
- rs-fMRI data from 395 neurotypical participants (ages 6-20) from ABIDE I and II datasets were analyzed.
- Voxel-wise analyses employed fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), and voxel-mirrored homotopic connectivity (VMHC).
- Data harmonization (ComBat, CovBat) and statistical analyses (correlation, ANOVA/ANCOVA) were performed to examine age effects.
Main Results:
- A consistent pattern of declining local and interhemispheric connectivity was observed with increasing age across all three rs-fMRI metrics.
- fALFF decreases were prominent in medial orbitofrontal cortex, caudate, medial occipital cortex, and cerebellum.
- ReHo reductions were noted in the insula and caudate, while VMHC declines were seen in the putamen, cerebellum, superior parietal lobules, and caudate.
Conclusions:
- The findings reveal a developmental trajectory characterized by increasing functional integration and network specialization from late childhood through adolescence.
- The combined use of fALFF, ReHo, and VMHC offers a robust multitechnical framework for characterizing typical brain development.
- This framework serves as a valuable benchmark for identifying developmental deviations in clinical populations.
