Development of lateral pulvinar resting state functional connectivity and its role in attention

Abstract

Objective: The lateral pulvinar nucleus (LPN) has a well-established role in visual attention. Oscillatory activity of the LPN is critical for cortico-cortical communication within and among occipital and temporal visual processing regions. However, the functional development of the LPN and its role in attention deficits is not understood. This study examined the development of thalamic functional connectivity and its relation to attention abilities.

Method: Resting state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging images from 950 participants (ages 8-21) in the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort (PNC) were used to examine age effects. Follow-up General Linear Models were performed to examine brain-behavior effects with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) symptom ratings and D-prime scores from the Penn Continuous Performance Task, a behavioral measure of selective attention.

Results: LPN functional connectivity with ventral visual stream regions of the occipital and temporal cortices decreased with age, while LPN functional connectivity with the supplementary motor area increased with age. Weaker LPN connectivity in the inferior parietal lobule, supramarginal gyrus, posterior insula, and inferior frontal gyrus was associated with more ADHD symptoms; stronger pulvinar-cerebellar connectivity was also associated with more ADHD symptoms. Better D-prime scores were associated with greater connectivity between the pulvinar and superior parietal gyrus; better D-prime scores were associated with weaker pulvinar connectivity with striatal, middle temporal gyrus, and medial prefrontal cortex regions.

Conclusion: These findings implicate the LPN in the development of the ventral visual processing stream between late childhood and early adulthood and suggest that LPN connectivity with higher order attention networks is important for attention abilities.

Keywords: Attention; Development; Pulvinar; Resting-state fMRI; Thalmo-cortical connectivity.

Figure 1.

rs-fMRI processing scheme

Figure 2

Changes in LPN over age Regions of resting state LPN functional connectivity change across age overlaid on overall LPN connectivity. The LPN connectivity model is displayed at a voxel-level threshold of p<0.1*10^−15 and cluster-level threshold of p<0.001(corrected). “Age (+)” (yellow colored) indicates areas with increasing connectivity with the seed region as age increases, while “Age (−)” (green colored) indicate areas with decreasing connectivity with the seed region as age increases. Age effects are displayed at a voxel-level and cluster-level threshold of p <0.001 (corrected). T-score scale indicated on color bar.

Figure 3

LPN Connectivity Associated with ADHD Symptom Scores and the Continuous Performance Task D-Prime Score Top Panel. Regions in which the strength of resting state LPN functional connectivity is associated with ADHD symptom scores, overlaid on overall LPN connectivity. ADHD symptom score effects are displayed at a voxel-level and cluster-level threshold of p<0.05 (corrected). T-score scale indicated on color bar. “ADHD (+)” (yellow colored) indicates voxels in which there is a positive relationship between LPN connectivity strength and ADHD symptoms (i.e. more connectivity indicates more inattention). “ADHD (−)” (green colored) indicates voxels in which there is a negative relationship between LPN connectivity strength and ADHD symptoms (i.e. more connectivity indicates less inattention). Bottom Panel. Regions in which the strength of resting state LPN functional connectivity is associated with overlaid on overall LPN connectivity. D-prime score effects are displayed at a voxel-level and cluster-level threshold of p<0.05 (corrected). T-score scale indicated on color bar. “D-prime (−)” (yellow colored) indicates voxels in which there is a negative relationship between LPN connectivity strength and d-prime scores (i.e. less connectivity indicates better attention). “D-prime (+)” (green colored) indicates voxels in which there is a positive relationship between LPN connectivity strength and d-prime scores (i.e. more connectivity indicates better attention).