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Using multi-modal neuroimaging to characterise social brain specialisation in infants

Siddiqui, Maheen; Pinti, Paola; Brigadoi, Sabrina; Lloyd-Fox, Sarah; Elwell, Clare E; Johnson, Mark H; Tachtsidis, Ilias; (2023) Using multi-modal neuroimaging to characterise social brain specialisation in infants. eLife , 12 , Article e84122. 10.7554/ELIFE.84122. Green open access

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Abstract

The specialised regional functionality of the mature human cortex partly emerges through experience-dependent specialisation during early development. Our existing understanding of functional specialisation in the infant brain is based on evidence from unitary imaging modalities and has thus focused on isolated estimates of spatial or temporal selectivity of neural or haemodynamic activation, giving an incomplete picture. We speculate that functional specialisation will be underpinned by better coordinated haemodynamic and metabolic changes in a broadly orchestrated physiological response. To enable researchers to track this process through development, we develop new tools that allow the simultaneous measurement of coordinated neural activity (EEG), metabolic rate, and oxygenated blood supply (broadband near-infrared spectroscopy) in the awake infant. In 4- to 7-month-old infants, we use these new tools to show that social processing is accompanied by spatially and temporally specific increases in coupled activation in the temporal-parietal junction, a core hub region of the adult social brain. During non-social processing, coupled activation decreased in the same region, indicating specificity to social processing. Coupling was strongest with high-frequency brain activity (beta and gamma), consistent with the greater energetic requirements and more localised action of high-frequency brain activity. The development of simultaneous multimodal neural measures will enable future researchers to open new vistas in understanding functional specialisation of the brain.

Type: Article
Title: Using multi-modal neuroimaging to characterise social brain specialisation in infants
Location: England
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.7554/ELIFE.84122
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.84122
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © Siddiqui et al. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Med Phys and Biomedical Eng
URI: https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10181011
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