Connectivity precedes function in the development of the visual word form area
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nihms801288.pdf
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Author(s)
Osher, David E
Norton, Elizabeth S
Youssoufian, Deanna A
Feather, Jenelle
Gaab, Nadine
Saygin, Zeynep M.
Beach, Sara Dawley
Gabrieli, John D. E.
Kanwisher, Nancy
Date Issued
August 2016
Journal
Nature Neuroscience
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Citation
Saygin, Zeynep M. “Connectivity Precedes Function in the Development of the Visual Word Form Area.” Nature Neuroscience 19, 9 (August 2016): 1250–1255 © 2016 Nature Publishing Group
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
What determines the cortical location at which a given functionally specific region will arise in development? We tested the hypothesis that functionally specific regions develop in their characteristic locations because of pre-existing differences in the extrinsic connectivity of that region to the rest of the brain. We exploited the visual word form area (VWFA) as a test case, scanning children with diffusion and functional imaging at age 5, before they learned to read, and at age 8, after they learned to read. We found the VWFA developed functionally in this interval and that its location in a particular child at age 8 could be predicted from that child's connectivity fingerprints (but not functional responses) at age 5. These results suggest that early connectivity instructs the functional development of the VWFA, possibly reflecting a general mechanism of cortical development.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT
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Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.4354
