A study using resting-state functional MRI scans of domain-specific brain networks, namely sets of cortical regions specialized for tasks such as recognizing faces and scenes, in 30 infants aged 6-57 days old, finds that infant brains show domain-specific patterns of functional connectivity in these networks by 27 days of age and beginning as early as 6 days; the findings reveal that domain-specific organization of brain networks implicated in face and scene recognition is established early in human development and suggest that innate connectivity precedes and potentially guides domain-specific functions in the cortex.
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Article #19-11359: "Connectivity at the origins of domain specificity in the cortical face and place networks," by Frederik S. Kamps, Cassandra L. Hendrix, Patricia A. Brennan, and Daniel D. Dilks
MEDIA CONTACT: Daniel D. Dilks, Emory University, Atlanta, GA; e-mail: dilks@emory.edu
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences