LINKING MULTI-SCALE BRAIN CONNECTIVITY WITH VIGILANCE, WORKING MEMORY, AND BEHAVIOR IN ADOLESCENTS

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Neuroscience
• Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

• Adolescent brain development involves complex intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs).
• Understanding ICNs is crucial for cognitive and behavioral functions like attention, working memory, and regulation.
• Neurodevelopmental disorders often involve disruptions in these ICNs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between multi-scale ICNs and cognitive/behavioral functions in adolescents.
• To identify specific ICNs within the fronto-thalamo-cerebellar (FTC) circuitry relevant to these functions.
• To explore potential neuroimaging markers for attention, working memory, and behavioral regulation.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the NeuroMark 2.2 multi-scale ICN template from a large dataset (>100,000 subjects).
• Analyzed resting-state fMRI data from the ABCD Study.
• Employed principal component analysis (PCA) and canonical correlation analysis (CCA) to link ICNs with cognitive-behavioral outcomes.

Main Results:

• Identified significant associations between specific multi-scale ICNs and cognitive/behavioral measures.
• A key canonical component demonstrated a robust link between ICNs and functional outcomes in both discovery and replication datasets.
• The fronto-thalamo-cerebellar (FTC) circuitry subdomains (CB, SC-ET, HC-IT, HC-FR) were implicated.

Conclusions:

• A specific multi-scale ICN pattern is associated with attention, working memory, and behavioral regulation in adolescents.
• This connectivity pattern shows potential as a biomarker for neurodevelopmental disorders, including ADHD.
• Findings provide novel insights into the neural underpinnings of cognitive and behavioral functions during adolescence.