Developmental stability and segregation of Theory of Mind and Pain networks carry distinct temporal signatures during naturalistic viewing

Abstract

Temporally stable large-scale functional brain connectivity among distributed brain regions is crucial during brain development. Recently, many studies highlighted an association between temporal dynamics during development and their alterations across various time scales. However, systematic characterization of temporal stability patterns of brain networks that represent the bodies and minds of others in children remains unexplored. To address this, we apply an unsupervised approach to reduce high-dimensional dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) features via low-dimensional patterns and characterize temporal stability using quantitative metrics across neurodevelopment. This study characterizes the development of temporal stability of the Theory of Mind (ToM) and Pain networks to address the functional maturation of these networks. The dataset used for this investigation comprised 155 subjects (children (n=122, 3-12 years) and adults (n=33)) watching engaging movie clips while undergoing fMRI data acquisition. The movie clips highlighted cartoon characters and their bodily sensations (often pain) and mental states (beliefs, desires, emotions) of others, activating ToM and Pain network regions of young children. Our findings demonstrate that ToM and pain networks display distinct temporal stability patterns by age 3 years. Finally, the temporal stability and specialization of the two functional networks increase with age and predict ToM behavior.