Hubs in the human fetal brain network
Advances in neuroimaging and network analyses have lead to discovery of highly connected regions, or hubs, in the connectional architecture of the human brain. Whether these hubs emerge in utero, has yet to be examined. The current study addresses this question and aims to determine the location of...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2018-04-01
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| Series: | Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878929317301755 |
| _version_ | 1811258945146191872 |
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| author | Marion I. van den Heuvel Elise Turk Janessa H. Manning Jasmine Hect Edgar Hernandez-Andrade Sonia S. Hassan Roberto Romero Martijn P. van den Heuvel Moriah E. Thomason |
| author_facet | Marion I. van den Heuvel Elise Turk Janessa H. Manning Jasmine Hect Edgar Hernandez-Andrade Sonia S. Hassan Roberto Romero Martijn P. van den Heuvel Moriah E. Thomason |
| author_sort | Marion I. van den Heuvel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Advances in neuroimaging and network analyses have lead to discovery of highly connected regions, or hubs, in the connectional architecture of the human brain. Whether these hubs emerge in utero, has yet to be examined. The current study addresses this question and aims to determine the location of neural hubs in human fetuses. Fetal resting-state fMRI data (N = 105) was used to construct connectivity matrices for 197 discrete brain regions. We discovered that within the connectional functional organization of the human fetal brain key hubs are emerging. Consistent with prior reports in infants, visual and motor regions were identified as emerging hub areas, specifically in cerebellar areas. We also found evidence for network hubs in association cortex, including areas remarkably close to the adult fusiform facial and Wernicke areas. Functional significance of hub structure was confirmed by computationally deleting hub versus random nodes and observing that global efficiency decreased significantly more when hubs were removed (p < .001). Taken together, we conclude that both primary and association brain regions demonstrate centrality in network organization before birth. While fetal hubs may be important for facilitating network communication, they may also form potential points of vulnerability in fetal brain development. Keywords: Prenatal, Functional connectivity, Hubs, Brain networks, Development, Fetus |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T18:22:08Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ef5d7f9a7a904632803c1b80d03ebd64 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1878-9293 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T18:22:08Z |
| publishDate | 2018-04-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-ef5d7f9a7a904632803c1b80d03ebd642022-12-22T03:21:24ZengElsevierDevelopmental Cognitive Neuroscience1878-92932018-04-0130108115Hubs in the human fetal brain networkMarion I. van den Heuvel0Elise Turk1Janessa H. Manning2Jasmine Hect3Edgar Hernandez-Andrade4Sonia S. Hassan5Roberto Romero6Martijn P. van den Heuvel7Moriah E. Thomason8Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child and Family Development, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA; Perinatology Research Branch, NICHD/NIH/DHHS, Detroit, MI, USA; Department of Cognitive Neuropsychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands; Corresponding author at: Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute, Wayne State University, 71 E. Ferry Street, Detroit, MI 48009, USA.Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Neonatology, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The NetherlandsMerrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child and Family Development, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA; Perinatology Research Branch, NICHD/NIH/DHHS, Detroit, MI, USAMerrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child and Family Development, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USAPerinatology Research Branch, NICHD/NIH/DHHS, Detroit, MI, USA; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48202, USAPerinatology Research Branch, NICHD/NIH/DHHS, Detroit, MI, USA; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48202, USAPerinatology Research Branch, NICHD/NIH/DHHS, Detroit, MI, USA; Perinatology Research Branch, NICHD/NIH/DHHS, Bethesda, MD, USA; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Michigan School of Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA; Department of Epidemiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48825, USA; Center for Molecular Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USABrain Center Rudolf Magnus, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The NetherlandsMerrill Palmer Skillman Institute for Child and Family Development, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA; Perinatology Research Branch, NICHD/NIH/DHHS, Detroit, MI, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48202, USAAdvances in neuroimaging and network analyses have lead to discovery of highly connected regions, or hubs, in the connectional architecture of the human brain. Whether these hubs emerge in utero, has yet to be examined. The current study addresses this question and aims to determine the location of neural hubs in human fetuses. Fetal resting-state fMRI data (N = 105) was used to construct connectivity matrices for 197 discrete brain regions. We discovered that within the connectional functional organization of the human fetal brain key hubs are emerging. Consistent with prior reports in infants, visual and motor regions were identified as emerging hub areas, specifically in cerebellar areas. We also found evidence for network hubs in association cortex, including areas remarkably close to the adult fusiform facial and Wernicke areas. Functional significance of hub structure was confirmed by computationally deleting hub versus random nodes and observing that global efficiency decreased significantly more when hubs were removed (p < .001). Taken together, we conclude that both primary and association brain regions demonstrate centrality in network organization before birth. While fetal hubs may be important for facilitating network communication, they may also form potential points of vulnerability in fetal brain development. Keywords: Prenatal, Functional connectivity, Hubs, Brain networks, Development, Fetushttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878929317301755 |
| spellingShingle | Marion I. van den Heuvel Elise Turk Janessa H. Manning Jasmine Hect Edgar Hernandez-Andrade Sonia S. Hassan Roberto Romero Martijn P. van den Heuvel Moriah E. Thomason Hubs in the human fetal brain network Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience |
| title | Hubs in the human fetal brain network |
| title_full | Hubs in the human fetal brain network |
| title_fullStr | Hubs in the human fetal brain network |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hubs in the human fetal brain network |
| title_short | Hubs in the human fetal brain network |
| title_sort | hubs in the human fetal brain network |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878929317301755 |
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