Developmental increases in white matter network controllability support a growing diversity of brain dynamics

TL;DR

This study shows that as children grow into young adults, their brain's white matter network becomes more optimized for controlling diverse neural dynamics, supporting increased brain flexibility and function.

Contribution

The paper introduces a network control perspective on brain development, revealing how white matter connectivity evolves to support dynamic neural control in youth.

Findings

White matter connectivity becomes more optimized for diverse dynamics with age.

Stable controllers in subcortical areas are negatively related to cognitive performance.

Brain networks are highly optimized for control, with distinct mechanisms in children versus older youth.

Abstract

As the human brain develops, it increasingly supports coordinated control of neural activity. The mechanism by which white matter evolves to support this coordination is not well understood. We use a network representation of diffusion imaging data from 882 youth ages 8 to 22 to show that white matter connectivity becomes increasingly optimized for a diverse range of predicted dynamics in development. Notably, stable controllers in subcortical areas are negatively related to cognitive performance. Investigating structural mechanisms supporting these changes, we simulate network evolution with a set of growth rules. We find that all brain networks are structured in a manner highly optimized for network control, with distinct control mechanisms predicted in child versus older youth. We demonstrate that our results cannot be simply explained by changes in network modularity. This work reveals a possible mechanism of human brain development that preferentially optimizes dynamic network control over static network architecture.