Highlights:
- Ultra-high-field 7 T fMRI was used to segment amygdala nuclei
- Fronto-amygdala functional connections develop along distinct trajectories
- Age-related connections relate to affective and cognitive control
- Amygdala nuclei exhibit developmental and functional specialization

@finncalabro.bsky.social

This is the bluesky account for the Laboratory of Neurocognitive Development under Dr. Breatiz Luna. We would love to be added !

Our findings highlight adolescence as a critical period for functional specialization in the brain. As local connectivity decreases, circuits become more independent, higher-dimensional, & optimized for cognition. #Neuroimaging

Understanding these developmental shifts is key for studying mental health disorders that emerge in adolescence (e.g., schizophrenia, mood disorders). Future work should explore:
🔹 Synaptic pruning mechanisms
🔹 Neural signal dimensionality
🔹 Longitudinal effects on cognition

These changes may:
✅ Increase information complexity in neural coding
✅ Support better cognitive flexibility & memory
✅ Reduce variability in motor & executive tasks
Adolescence is when the brain optimizes for efficiency over redundancy!

We found ReHo decreases in networks involved in cognitive control & motor regulation, like:
🔹 Cingulo-opercular network (CON) → stabilizing goal-directed actions
🔹 Somatomotor networks → refining movement control
🔹 Frontoparietal networks → supporting executive function

Cortical circuits showed increasing segregation, meaning nearby brain areas became more independent. This aligns with:
🔹 Synaptic pruning & refining neural connections
🔹 Increased signal fidelity & computational capacity
🔹 More efficient cognitive processing

Our longitudinal study (N=134, ages 10–31) found that through adolescence:
🔹 Local functional connectivity decreases
🔹 Brain circuits become more specialized
🔹 Coding capacity & efficiency increase
This supports the shift toward adult-like cognition.