Abstract
Recent studies have demonstrated developmental changes of functional brain networks derived from functional connectivity using graph theoretical analysis, which has been rapidly translated to studies of brain network organization. However, little is known about sex- and IQ-related differences in the topological organization of functional brain networks during development. In this study, resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) was used to map the functional brain networks in 51 healthy children. We then investigated the effects of age, sex, and IQ on economic small-world properties and regional nodal properties of the functional brain networks. At a global level of whole networks, we found significant age-related increases in the small-worldness and local efficiency, significant higher values of the global efficiency in boys compared with girls, and no significant IQ-related difference. Age-related increases in the regional nodal properties were found predominately in the frontal brain regions, whereas the parietal, temporal, and occipital brain regions showed age-related decreases. Significant sex-related differences in the regional nodal properties were found in various brain regions, primarily related to the default mode, language, and vision systems. Positive correlations between IQ and the regional nodal properties were found in several brain regions related to the attention system, whereas negative correlations were found in various brain regions primarily involved in the default mode, emotion, and language systems. Together, our findings of the network topology of the functional brain networks in healthy children and its relationship with age, sex, and IQ bring new insights into the understanding of brain maturation and cognitive development during childhood and adolescence.
Highlights
Recent developments in generating a network map of the human brain, known as the human connectome, provide new insights into the organization of the brain’s structural connections and their role in shaping functional dynamics [1,2]
The functional brain networks in healthy children showed a much higher clustering coefficient but similar characteristic path length compared with the matched random networks (Figure 1 A and B)
The present study examined the topological organization of the functional brain networks derived from resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) in healthy children and quantitatively analyzed the effects of age, sex, and IQ on the network properties at both the global and regional levels
Summary
Recent developments in generating a network map of the human brain, known as the human connectome, provide new insights into the organization of the brain’s structural connections and their role in shaping functional dynamics [1,2]. Great efforts in the study of the human connectome have greatly expanded our knowledge of the topological principles of brain network organization in the healthy, developing, aging, and diseased brains [6,7]. The sex- and intelligence-related differences in the functional brain networks in children remain largely unknown. Several previous studies have indicated significant sex differences in the network properties of structural [9,10] and functional brain networks [11,12,13,14] in adults. We hypothesized that 1) the developmental trajectories of the functional brain networks might be affected by sex and 2) intelligence quotient (IQ) might have a significant effect on functional brain networks in healthy children
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