Spatiotemporal profiling of the sensorimotor-association gradient across the human lifespan
Poster No:
976
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Qiongling Li1, Lianglong Sun1, Xinyuan Liang1, Debin Zeng2, Mingrui Xia1, Shuyu Li1, Yong He1
Institutions:
1State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, Beijing, 2School of Biological Science & Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing, Beijing
First Author:
Qiongling Li
State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University
Beijing, Beijing
State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University
Beijing, Beijing
Co-Author(s):
Lianglong Sun
State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University
Beijing, Beijing
State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University
Beijing, Beijing
Xinyuan Liang
State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University
Beijing, Beijing
State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University
Beijing, Beijing
Mingrui Xia
State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University
Beijing, Beijing
State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University
Beijing, Beijing
Shuyu Li
State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University
Beijing, Beijing
State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University
Beijing, Beijing
Yong He
State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University
Beijing, Beijing
State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University
Beijing, Beijing
Introduction:
A fundamental aspect of understanding the principle of the human brain organization is the unfolding of the intrinsic functional architecture of the cerebral cortex. Functional gradients allow for the representation of indispensable spatial topography of brain organization at a macroscale, which can be derived from the coherent intrinsic or spontaneous brain activity 1,2. Among these gradients, the sensorimotor-association (S-A) gradient captures the principal axis of cortical functional differentiation spanning from low-order primary to high-order association cortices 3. This cortex-wide embedding optimizes the continuity of function between adjacent areas and subserves the cognitive spectrum from sensation, perception, and action to abstract cognition along the cortical mantle 3. As a fundamental organizational principle, the principal S-A gradient of functional connectome conforms to spatial variations in a number of neurobiological features, including macrostructural cortical thickness 4, and microstructural intracortical myelination 5. Despite its importance, how the S-A axis of cortical functional organization is established and evolves across the lifespan remains largely unknown.
Methods:
Following a rigorous quality control procedure, we included a large multimodal structural MRI and task-free fMRI dataset from 33,247 participants aged 32 postmenstrual weeks to 80 years. Using diffusion map embedding approaches, we obtained functional gradients from both age-specific, group-level connectomes and person-specific connectomes. We also investigated how the maturation of the cortex-wide S-A gradient across the lifespan is associated with changes in structural properties including intrinsic geometric distance, macrostructural cortical thickness, and microstructural intracortical myelination.
Results:
The functional connectome gradient initially manifests as an anterior-posterior differentiation and then progresses through a canonical S-A differentiation (Fig. 1A). The functional gradients across different age groups were found to be categorized into three distinct stages (Fig. 1B): (i) Stage 1, termed "initiation", involving broad anterior-posterior differentiation; (ii) Stage 2, termed "establishment", transitioning from anterior-posterior patterns into canonical primary-association gradient; (iii) Stage 3, termed "expansion and stability", undergoing further expansion and fine-tuning, achieving a more stable and mature configuration, until degeneration during aging (Fig. 1C).
We found the robust coupling between intrinsic geometry and cortical functional differentiation of the S-A axis where the correlations remained high (r>0.90) throughout the lifespan. Nonetheless, this correlation tended to decrease until late adolescence and then showed little change thereafter (Fig. 2A). This result suggests that the geometric constraints on functional differentiation of the S-A axis gradually decrease with development, possibly allowing for greater cognitive flexibility.
The S-A connectome gradient maps showed significant spatial correlations with cortical thickness maps (Fig. 2D) and intracortical myelination maps (Fig. 2E) across the lifespan, especially during the first two decades. The growth rate of the S-A gradient of functional connectome was significantly correlated with the growth rate of cortical thickness during late childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood (Fig. 2E), and the growth rate of intracortical myelination during adolescence and early adulthood (Fig. 2F). During aging, the correlation between these growth rates of functional gradient and intracortical myelination persisted, albeit with a weaker effect size. These results suggest a synchronous maturation of cortical functional hierarchy with cytoarchitectural and myeloarchitectural hierarchies during adolescence and early adulthood.
We found the robust coupling between intrinsic geometry and cortical functional differentiation of the S-A axis where the correlations remained high (r>0.90) throughout the lifespan. Nonetheless, this correlation tended to decrease until late adolescence and then showed little change thereafter (Fig. 2A). This result suggests that the geometric constraints on functional differentiation of the S-A axis gradually decrease with development, possibly allowing for greater cognitive flexibility.
The S-A connectome gradient maps showed significant spatial correlations with cortical thickness maps (Fig. 2D) and intracortical myelination maps (Fig. 2E) across the lifespan, especially during the first two decades. The growth rate of the S-A gradient of functional connectome was significantly correlated with the growth rate of cortical thickness during late childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood (Fig. 2E), and the growth rate of intracortical myelination during adolescence and early adulthood (Fig. 2F). During aging, the correlation between these growth rates of functional gradient and intracortical myelination persisted, albeit with a weaker effect size. These results suggest a synchronous maturation of cortical functional hierarchy with cytoarchitectural and myeloarchitectural hierarchies during adolescence and early adulthood.
Conclusions:
Our results identified critical windows of the sensorimotor-association gradient growth, and its structural basis throughout the human lifespan.
Lifespan Development:
Early life, Adolescence, Aging 1
Modeling and Analysis Methods:
Connectivity (eg. functional, effective, structural) 2
fMRI Connectivity and Network Modeling
Novel Imaging Acquisition Methods:
BOLD fMRI
Keywords:
Other - functional connectome
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
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Provide references using APA citation style.
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