The emergence of functional architecture during early brain development

Abstract

Early human brain development constitutes a sequence of intricate processes resulting in the ontogeny of functionally operative neural circuits. Developmental trajectories of early brain network formation are genetically programmed and can be modified by epigenetic and environmental influences. Such alterations may exert profound effects on neurodevelopment, potentially persisting throughout the lifespan. This review focuses on the critical period of fetal and early postnatal brain development. Here we collate findings from neuroimaging studies, with a particular focus on functional MRI research that interrogated early brain network development in both health and high-risk or disease states. First, we will provide an overview of the developmental processes that take place from the embryonic period through early infancy in order to contextualize brain network formation. Second, functional brain network development in the typically developing brain will be discussed. Third, we will touch on prenatal and perinatal risk factors that may interfere with the trajectories of functional brain wiring, including prenatal substance exposure, maternal mental illness and preterm

White matter maturation in the neonatal brain is predictive of school age cognitive capacities in children born very preterm

“…Second, the use of various atlases across different studies may limit the interpretation of findings. Here, we employed the neonatal template provided by Oishi et al We refer the reader to the review by Keunen et al for a discussion of this issue …”

“…Stem cell treatment, erythropoietin, magnesium sulfate, and nutritional interventions, such as probiotics and lactoferrin, constitute promising candidates. 25,26 Given the notion that crucial processes of brain network formation take place before 32 weeks postmenstrual age 5,27 and that global white matter maturation by TEA is related to cognitive performance, it is likely that a critical window of opportunity for neuroprotective intervention exists even earlier. 28 Elaborating on this postulate, it would be of particular interest to replicate the present findings in the neonatal brain network at an even earlier stage of brain development.…”

“…Here, we employed the neonatal template provided by Oishi et al 12 We refer the reader to the review by Keunen et al for a discussion of this issue. 27 A third limitation is that scan time of the neonatal MRI procedure was limited. A DWI protocol was used that included 32 non-collinear directions of DWI and a single b-value of 800s 2 /mm, which imparted limitations on the streamline tractography and did not allow accurate reconstruction of complex fibre orientations.…”

PAGANI Toolkit: Parallel graph‐theoretical analysis package for brain network big data

“…Based on the imaging connectomics framework, researchers have revealed many important topological characteristics of healthy human brain networks, including the small‐world properties, modular structure, and densely connected hubs (Bullmore & Sporns, ; Liao, Vasilakos, & He, ; Sporns & Betzel, ; van den Heuvel & Sporns, ). Moreover, imaging connectomics have been widely used to study topological changes in brain networks during development (Cao, Huang, & He, ; Cao et al, ; Keunen, Counsell, & Benders, ) and aging (Ferreira et al, ; Grayson & Fair, ; Zuo et al, ) and in neuropsychiatric disorders (Fornito, Zalesky, & Breakspear, ; Stam, ; Xia & He, ).…”

“…networks during development (Cao, Huang, & He, 2017;Cao et al, 2017;Keunen, Counsell, & Benders, 2017) and aging (Ferreira et al, 2016;Grayson & Fair, 2017;Zuo et al, 2017) and in neuropsychiatric disorders (Fornito, Zalesky, & Breakspear, 2015;Stam, 2014;Xia & He, 2011).…”