Decoding Lifespan Changes of the Human Brain Using Resting-State Functional Connectivity MRI

The development of large-scale functional brain networks is a complex, lifelong process that can be investigated using resting-state functional connectivity MRI (rs-fcMRI). In this study, we aimed to decode the developmental dynamics of the whole-brain functional network in seven decades (8–79 years) of the human lifespan. We first used parametric curve fitting to examine linear and nonlinear age effect on the resting human brain, and then combined manifold learning and support vector machine methods to predict individuals' “brain ages” from rs-fcMRI data. We found that age-related changes in interregional functional connectivity exhibited spatially and temporally specific patterns. During brain development from childhood to senescence, functional connections tended to linearly increase in the emotion system and decrease in the sensorimotor system; while quadratic trajectories were observed in functional connections related to higher-order cognitive functions. The complex patterns of age effect on the whole-brain functional network could be effectively represented by a low-dimensional, nonlinear manifold embedded in the functional connectivity space, which uncovered the inherent structure of brain maturation and aging. Regression of manifold coordinates with age further showed that the manifold representation extracted sufficient information from rs-fcMRI data to make prediction about individual brains' functional development levels. Our study not only gives insights into the neural substrates that underlie behavioral and cognitive changes over age, but also provides a possible way to quantitatively describe the typical and atypical developmental progression of human brain function using rs-fcMRI.