Default mode network scaffolds immature frontoparietal network in cognitive development
Menglu Chen, Ying He, Lei Hao, Jiahua Xu, Ting Tian, Siyang Peng, Gai Zhao, Jing Lu, Yuyao Zhao, Hui Zhao, Min Jiang, Jia-Hong Gao, Shuping Tan, Yong He, Chao Liu, S. Tao, Lucina Q. Uddin, Qi Dong, Shaozheng Qin
Cerebral Cortex November 1, 2022 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac414 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Longitudinal developmental fMRI study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 631 |
| Population | Children and young adults |
| Topics | Default mode network |
| Key findings | The default mode network matures earlier than the frontal parietal network in children and provides a scaffolding effect that supports the development of executive functions. |
Abstract
Abstract The default mode network (DMN) is a workspace for convergence of internal and external information. The frontal parietal network (FPN) is indispensable to executive functioning. Yet, how they interplay to support cognitive development remains elusive. Using longitudinal developmental fMRI with an n-back paradigm, we show a heterogeneity of maturational changes in multivoxel activity and network connectivity among DMN and FPN nodes in 528 children and 103 young adults. Compared with adults, children exhibited prominent longitudinal improvement but still inferior behavioral performance, which paired with less pronounced DMN deactivation and weaker FPN activation in children, but stronger DMN coupling with FPN regions. Children’s DMN reached an adult-like level earlier than FPN at both multivoxel activity pattern and intranetwork connectivity levels. Intrinsic DMN-FPN internetwork coupling in children mediated the relationship between age and working memory-related functional coupling of these networks, with posterior cingulate cortex (PCC)-dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) coupling emerging as most prominent pathway. Coupling of PCC-DLPFC may further work together with task-invoked activity in PCC to account for longitudinal improvement in behavioral performance in children. Our findings suggest that the DMN provides a scaffolding effect in support of an immature FPN that is critical for the development of executive functions in children.
Comparable studies
Other experimental studies on default mode network, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Functional connectivity of default mode network components: Correlation, anticorrelation, and causality Healthy subjects | 2008 | Observational study using resting-state fMRI and seed correlation analysis | |
| Patterns of Brain Activity Supporting Autobiographical Memory, Prospection, and Theory of Mind, and Their Relationship to the Default Mode Network Healthy subjects | 2009 | Experimental study using fMRI | |
| Dynamic reconfiguration of the default mode network during narrative comprehension Human subjects | 2016 | Experimental study | |
| Broadband Cortical Desynchronization Underlies the Human Psychedelic State Healthy human participants | 2013 | Experimental study | |
| The brain on art: intense aesthetic experience activates the default mode network Human observers | 2012 | Observational study with fMRI and behavioral analysis |
Citations in the library
Cited by 2
Cites 10
- A default mode of brain function Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences January 16, 2001
- The Brain's Default Mode Network Annual Review of Neuroscience May 4, 2015
- The default mode network in cognition: a topographical perspective Nature Reviews Neuroscience July 5, 2021
- The default mode network: where the idiosyncratic self meets the shared social world Nature Reviews Neuroscience January 22, 2021
- Development of functional and structural connectivity within the default mode network in young children Neuroimage April 11, 2010
and 5 more in the library