A longitudinal study of functional connectome uniqueness and its association with psychological distress in adolescence

• Published in: NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.) Fla.), 2022-09, Vol.258, p.119358-119358, Article 119358
• Main Authors: Shan, Zack Y, Mohamed, Abdalla Z, Schwenn, Paul, McLoughlin, Larisa T, Boyes, Amanda, Sacks, Dashiell D, Driver, Christina, Calhoun, Vince D., Lagopoulos, Jim, Hermens, Daniel F
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accuracy; Adolescence; Adolescents; Age; Brain; Child development; Functional connectome; Information processing; Longitudinal studies; Mental disorders; Mental health; Neuroimaging; Neuroplasticity; Psychological distress; Questionnaires; Resting state fMRI; Teenagers; Uniqueness
• ISSN: 1053-8119; 1095-9572
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119358

•Functional connectome uniqueness in adolescents was examined using a temporally rich (up to 9 time points) and a well-controlled (fixed 4 months interval) longitudinal study.•A unique functional connectome exists at 12 years old.•The cingulo-opercular network (a long-acting ‘brain control network’ configuring information processing) demonstrated marginal uniqueness.•Uniqueness indices of the cingulo-opercular network were significantly and negatively associated with the subsequent psychological distress. Each human brain has a unique functional synchronisation pattern (functional connectome) analogous to a fingerprint that underpins brain functions and related behaviours. Here we examine functional connectome (whole-brain and 13 networks) maturation by measuring its uniqueness in adolescents who underwent brain scans longitudinally from 12 years of age every four months. The uniqueness of a functional connectome is defined as its ratio of self-similarity (from the same subject at a different time point) to the maximal similarity-to-others (from a given subject and any others at a different time point). We found that the unique whole brain connectome exists in 12 years old adolescents, with 92% individuals having a whole brain uniqueness value greater than one. The cingulo-opercular network (CON; a long-acting ‘brain control network’ configuring information processing) demonstrated marginal uniqueness in early adolescence with 56% of individuals showing uniqueness greater than one (i.e., more similar to her/his own CON four months later than those from any other subjects) and this increased longitudinally. Notably, the low uniqueness of the CON correlates (β = -18.6, FDR-Q