How do the brain’s structure and function develop together through adolescence?
or technically,
Development of structure-function coupling in human brain networks during youth
[See Original Abstract on Pubmed]
Authors of the study: Graham L. Baum, Zaixu Cui, David R. Roalf, Rastko Ciric, Richard F. Betzel, Bart Larsen, Matthew Cieslak, Philip A. Cook, Cedric H. Xia, Tyler M. Moore, Kosha Ruparel, Desmond J. Oathes, Aaron F. Alexander-Bloch, Russell T. Shinohara, Armin Raznahani, Raquel E. Gur, Ruben C. Gur, Danielle S. Bassett, and Theodore D. Satterthwaite
An important part of learning about the brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. is not just understanding the way one individual brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. region works, but also how different brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. regions connect to each other. For example, our eyes receive visual information, but you only know what objects you are looking at because that visual information is also associated with your other senses and your memories. The connections between brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. regions are not completely set once a person is born, they develop as that person grows. There are several ways that these connections can develop. One way is structural, which is the physical connections between regions. These are the white matterA class of brain tissue made up of long and wire-like axons and tracts, acting as a highway of connections among the brain's cortical surface regions connections that stretch from region to region and the synapsesthe point of communication between neurons; the tiny gap between two neurons, where nerve impulses are relayed formed between cells in different regions. Another type of connection between regions is functional. This means that when one region is active and doing a task, the other region is active as well. When the structure between brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. regions also supports the functional connections between those regions, that is called structure-function coupling. Graham Baum, Neuroscience Graduate Group student and member of the Satterthwaite lab, wanted to know how structure-function coupling develops in youth.
BrainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. regions can be classified in groups based on what they process. If a brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. region only focuses on a single simple thing such as light, heat or taste, then it is called unimodal. If a brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. region associates multiple types of information that come from different brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. regions, that brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. region can be called transmodal. When children grow up, the senses are among the first parts of the brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. to develop since they are more concrete; they require less abstract thought. The more evolved transmodal parts of the brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. are the ones that develop later in life. It is also possible to measure how much a transmodal region is connected to other brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. regions, which is called the brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. region’s participation coefficient. Graham’s study focused on the differences in development of unimodal and transmodal types of brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. regions.
To study structure-function coupling, Graham scanned people from ages 8 to 23 using MRI imaging. He made two maps for each person. The first map was a structural map, made with diffusion weighted imagingA method for imaging and measuring properties of white matter using magnetic resonance imaging.. This map showed the physical connections between regions of the brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals.. The next map was a functional map. To make this map, each participant was scanned with a MRI machine while they were doing a task where they needed to remember a number of things and then repeat them back to the experimenter. That allowed Graham to make a map of the brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. to see how each region of the brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. communicated with every other region of the brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. during this task. The last step was to correlate the structural connections with the functional connections. Each region in the brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. then had a number to represent its structure-function coupling. This final value is what Graham measured and compared between participants.
The first thing Graham found was that regions that were unimodal had stronger structure-function coupling compared to transmodal areas. The more regions that one brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. region was communicating with, the weaker structure-function coupling it had. This was true across all ages. He next wanted to know how structure-function associations would change with age. To do this, he compared the structure-function coupling between younger participants and older participants. BrainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. regions that were unimodal did not change much with age. The regions that changed the most with age were the transmodal areas that support complex thought.
These age differences in structure-function coupling were exciting, but they were done across different people of different ages. Graham added to this by scanning a group of participants and then scanning those same participants about 2 years later. For most adolescents, 2 years can be a significant amount of time to change in terms of brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. development. When Graham scanned the same people twice, he confirmed that transmodal brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. regions within the same individuals developed stronger structure-function coupling over time.
The last thing Graham wanted to know is whether these structure-function connections would actually be related to behavior. He looked at how people actually did on the behavioral task that he used to make the functional maps. He found that higher structure-function coupling in a region called the rostrolateral prefrontal cortex (rlPFC) was associated with better performance on the task. The structure-function coupling of the rlPFC could also predict how two people of the same age would do on the task.
Graham’s work shows us something we didn’t know before, how the development of white matterA class of brain tissue made up of long and wire-like axons and tracts, acting as a highway of connections among the brain's cortical surface regions helps to support the way that the brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. develops its cognitive abilities. This work gives us the ability to predict brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. function as humans age and develop. Additionally, this work can help us try to understand disorders that are defined by the disconnect between structural and functional development such as certain neuropsychiatric disorders.
BrainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. regions can be classified in groups based on what they process. If a brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. region only focuses on a single simple thing such as light, heat or taste, then it is called unimodal. If a brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. region associates multiple types of information that come from different brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. regions, that brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. region can be called transmodal. When children grow up, the senses are among the first parts of the brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. to develop since they are more concrete; they require less abstract thought. The more evolved transmodal parts of the brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. are the ones that develop later in life. It is also possible to measure how much a transmodal region is connected to other brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. regions, which is called the brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. region’s participation coefficient. Graham’s study focused on the differences in development of unimodal and transmodal types of brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. regions.
To study structure-function coupling, Graham scanned people from ages 8 to 23 using MRI imaging. He made two maps for each person. The first map was a structural map, made with diffusion weighted imagingA method for imaging and measuring properties of white matter using magnetic resonance imaging.. This map showed the physical connections between regions of the brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals.. The next map was a functional map. To make this map, each participant was scanned with a MRI machine while they were doing a task where they needed to remember a number of things and then repeat them back to the experimenter. That allowed Graham to make a map of the brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. to see how each region of the brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. communicated with every other region of the brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. during this task. The last step was to correlate the structural connections with the functional connections. Each region in the brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. then had a number to represent its structure-function coupling. This final value is what Graham measured and compared between participants.
The first thing Graham found was that regions that were unimodal had stronger structure-function coupling compared to transmodal areas. The more regions that one brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. region was communicating with, the weaker structure-function coupling it had. This was true across all ages. He next wanted to know how structure-function associations would change with age. To do this, he compared the structure-function coupling between younger participants and older participants. BrainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. regions that were unimodal did not change much with age. The regions that changed the most with age were the transmodal areas that support complex thought.
These age differences in structure-function coupling were exciting, but they were done across different people of different ages. Graham added to this by scanning a group of participants and then scanning those same participants about 2 years later. For most adolescents, 2 years can be a significant amount of time to change in terms of brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. development. When Graham scanned the same people twice, he confirmed that transmodal brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. regions within the same individuals developed stronger structure-function coupling over time.
The last thing Graham wanted to know is whether these structure-function connections would actually be related to behavior. He looked at how people actually did on the behavioral task that he used to make the functional maps. He found that higher structure-function coupling in a region called the rostrolateral prefrontal cortex (rlPFC) was associated with better performance on the task. The structure-function coupling of the rlPFC could also predict how two people of the same age would do on the task.
Graham’s work shows us something we didn’t know before, how the development of white matterA class of brain tissue made up of long and wire-like axons and tracts, acting as a highway of connections among the brain's cortical surface regions helps to support the way that the brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. develops its cognitive abilities. This work gives us the ability to predict brainThe brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. function as humans age and develop. Additionally, this work can help us try to understand disorders that are defined by the disconnect between structural and functional development such as certain neuropsychiatric disorders.
About the brief writer: Rebecca Somach
Rebecca is a PhD Candidate in Akiva Cohen’s lab. She is interested in using electrophysiology to answer interesting and novel questions in neuroscience. Her current research focuses on how mild traumatic brain injury alters the neuronal circuitry of sleep.
Want to learn more about structure-function coupling, and how it changes as we develop? Check out Graham’s paper here.