Volumetric development of hippocampal subfields and hippocampal white matter connectivity: Relationship with episodic memory.

The hippocampus is a complex structure composed of distinct subfields. It has been central to understanding neural foundations of episodic memory. In the current cross-sectional study, using a large sample of 830, 3- to 21-year-olds from a unique, publicly available dataset we examined the following questions: (1) Is there elevated grey matter volume of the hippocampus and subfields in late compared to early development? (2) How does hippocampal volume compare with the rest of the cerebral cortex at different developmental stages? and (3) What is the relation between hippocampal volume and connectivity with episodic memory performance? We found hippocampal subfield volumes exhibited a nonlinear relation with age and showed a lag in volumetric change with age when compared to adjacent cortical regions (e.g., entorhinal cortex). We also observed a significant reduction in cortical volume across older cohorts, while hippocampal volume showed the opposite pattern. In addition to age-related differences in gray matter volume, dentate gyrus/cornu ammonis 3 volume was significantly related to episodic memory. We did not, however, find any associations with episodic memory performance and connectivity through the uncinate fasciculus, fornix, or cingulum. The results are discussed in the context of current research and theories of hippocampal development and its relation to episodic memory.

Dynamic functional network connectivity reveals unique and overlapping profiles of insula subdivisions.

The human insular cortex consists of functionally diverse subdivisions that engage during tasks ranging from interoception to cognitive control. The multiplicity of functions subserved by insular subdivisions calls for a nuanced investigation of their functional connectivity profiles. Four insula subdivisions (dorsal anterior, dAI; ventral, VI; posterior, PI; middle, MI) derived using a data-driven approach were subjected to static- and dynamic functional network connectivity (s-FNC and d-FNC) analyses. Static-FNC analyses replicated previous work demonstrating a cognition-emotion-interoception division of the insula, where the dAI is functionally connected to frontal areas, the VI to limbic areas, and the PI and MI to sensorimotor areas. Dynamic-FNC analyses consisted of k-means clustering of sliding windows to identify variable insula connectivity states. The d-FNC analysis revealed that the most frequently occurring dynamic state mirrored the cognition-emotion-interoception division observed from the s-FNC analysis, with less frequently occurring states showing overlapping and unique subdivision connectivity profiles. In two of the states, all subdivisions exhibited largely overlapping profiles, consisting of subcortical, sensory, motor, and frontal connections. Two other states showed the dAI exhibited a unique connectivity profile compared with other insula subdivisions. Additionally, the dAI exhibited the most variable functional connections across the s-FNC and d-FNC analyses, and was the only subdivision to exhibit dynamic functional connections with regions of the default mode network. These results highlight how a d-FNC approach can capture functional dynamics masked by s-FNC approaches, and reveal dynamic functional connections enabling the functional flexibility of the insula across time. Hum Brain Mapp 37:1770-1787, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Atypical developmental of dorsal and ventral attention networks in autism.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) exhibit early and lifelong impairments in attention across multiple domains. While the disorder is known to affect attention processes, very little is currently known about the brain networks underlying attention in ASD, and even less is known about whether these atypicalities persist across the lifespan. We used functional connectivity analysis applied to resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data to explore the dorsal (DAN) and ventral (VAN) attention networks in two separate age cohorts of children and adults with and without ASD. We find significant developmental differences in functional connectivity of brain regions that are critical for attention in children and adults with ASD. Specifically, children with ASD show hyper-connectivity of regions-of-interest (ROIs) in both attention networks compared with both typically developing (TD) children and adults with ASD. In contrast, adults with ASD show hypo-connectivity of these networks compared with neurotypical adults. These findings are consistent with the notion that consideration of developmental stage is critical in studies of functional connectivity in ASD. This study further illustrates diverging developmental patterns for top-down and bottom-up attention systems in autism.

Asymmetric development of dorsal and ventral attention networks in the human brain.

Two neural systems for goal-directed and stimulus-driven attention have been described in the adult human brain; the dorsal attention network (DAN) centered in the frontal eye fields (FEF) and intraparietal sulcus (IPS), and the ventral attention network (VAN) anchored in the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) and ventral frontal cortex (VFC). Little is known regarding the processes governing typical development of these attention networks in the brain. Here we use resting state functional MRI data collected from thirty 7 to 12 year-old children and thirty 18 to 31 year-old adults to examine two key regions of interest from the dorsal and ventral attention networks. We found that for the DAN nodes (IPS and FEF), children showed greater functional connectivity with regions within the network compared with adults, whereas adults showed greater functional connectivity between the FEF and extra-network regions including the posterior cingulate cortex. For the VAN nodes (TPJ and VFC), adults showed greater functional connectivity with regions within the network compared with children. Children showed greater functional connectivity between VFC and nodes of the salience network. This asymmetric pattern of development of attention networks may be a neural signature of the shift from over-representation of bottom-up attention mechanisms to greater top-down attentional capacities with development.