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. 2013 Mar;23(3):594-603.
doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhs043. Epub 2012 Feb 24.

The synchronization within and interaction between the default and dorsal attention networks in early infancy

Wei Gao  1 , John H Gilmore, Dinggang Shen, Jeffery Keith Smith, Hongtu Zhu, Weili Lin
Affiliations

The synchronization within and interaction between the default and dorsal attention networks in early infancy

Wei Gao et al. Cereb Cortex. 2013 Mar.

Abstract

An anticorrelated interaction between the dorsal attention and the default-mode networks has been observed, although how these 2 networks establish such relationship remains elusive. Behavioral studies have reported the emergence of attention and default network-related functions and a preliminary competing relationship between them at early infancy. This study attempted to test the hypothesis--resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging will demonstrate not only improved network synchronization of the dorsal attention and the default networks, respectively, during the first 2 years of life but also an anticorrelated network interaction pattern between the 2 networks at 1 year which will be further enhanced at 2 years old. Our results demonstrate that both networks start from an isolated region in neonates but evolve to highly synchronized networks at 1 year old. Paralleling the individual network maturation process, the anticorrelated behaviors are absent at birth but become apparent at 1 year and are further enhanced during the second year of life. Our studies elucidate not only the individual maturation process of the dorsal attention and default networks but also offer evidence that the maturation of the individual networks may be needed prior exhibiting the adult-like interaction patterns between the 2 networks.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Functional connectivity maps for the default and dorsal attention networks in neonates (a), 1 year old (b), and 2 years old (c), respectively. The right column shows the composite maps of the spatial relationship between the default and dorsal attention networks. The brain regions of the default network are shown in green, dorsal attention in yellow, and the overlapped regions in red, respectively. The color bar represents the correlation values of images shown in the left and middle columns.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
The temporal characteristics of functional connection strengths within the dorsal attention and default networks. (a) Growth trajectories of the individual functional connections in the dorsal attention network. Red lines indicate significant increase (P < 0.05, FDR corrected), while black lines represent nonsignificant changes; (b) the mean network connection strength in neonates, 1 year, and 2 years old for the dorsal attention network (red asterisk, P = 3.9 × 10−7); (c) growth trajectories of the individual functional connections in the default network with an identical arrangement as that in (a); (d) the mean network connection strength in neonates, 1 year, and 2 years old for the default network (red asterisk, P = 4.5 × 10−6). All whiskers represent standard error of the mean.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Conjunction analyses of the anticorrelated maps between the dorsal attention and default networks. (a) Anticorrelated regions with the lIPS seed (dorsal attention network) in 1 year and 2 years old; (b) anticorrelated map with the PCC seed (default network) in 1 year and 2 years old; The color bar represents the correlation values of images shown in the (a) and (b); (c) overlap (red) between the anticorrelated map of dorsal attention (Anti-Dorsal attention, coral) and the default network (Default, lime); (d) overlap (red) between the dorsal attention (coral) and anticorrelated map of default (Anti-default, lime). The corresponding volume ratios are shown in the right-most column of (c) and (d), which were calculated as the ratios of the overlapped volume over the volume of union of the 2 composite maps (Anti-Dorsal attention + Default or Dorsal attention+ Anti-Default).
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
The temporal characteristics of functional connection strengths of the interaction between the dorsal attention and default networks. (a) Growth trajectories of individual between-network connections. Red/blue colors indicate significant (P < 0.05, FDR corrected) increase/decrease of interaction strength, respectively, while black color represents nonsignificant changes; (b) changes of mean interaction strength (red asterisk represents statistically significant change (P < 0.05, FDR corrected)). All whiskers represent standard error of the mean.
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