The development of BNST intrinsic functional connectivity from 8 to 23 years of age: A PNC cohort study

The bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) is a small subcortical region that plays a critical role in a wide array of functions, including emotion processing, reward processing, and social interactions. The BNST intrinsic functional network has been well characterized in adults. Despite evidence that BNST connectivity changes during development, maturation of the BNST network has been understudied. To address this gap, we investigated age-related changes in BNST intrinsic connectivity in youth aged 8 - 23 years using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans from the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort (PNC), a large cross-sectional dataset. We measured intrinsic connectivity within a BNST network and across the whole brain, testing for effects of age, sex, and age x sex. The BNST ROI network analysis revealed a significant decrease with age for BNST-hypothalamus connectivity and, in boys, BNST-amygdala connectivity. The whole-brain results showed that BNST connectivity was largely established by middle childhood, though there were notable increases in BNST connectivity with motor and planning regions and decreases with age in BNST-subcortical connectivity. These data suggest a shift from subcortical to control-related BNST connectivity with age during this dynamic maturational window.