Developmental tuning of prefrontal network fluctuations marks functional maturation in infancy

ABSTRACT The early development of the prefrontal cortex is crucial for higher cognitive functions. However, current research presents inconsistent findings regarding whether intra-prefrontal connectivity increases or decreases in infants younger than six months. Do dynamic changes in connection strength across different states over time carry information about prefrontal maturation? This study used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to record prefrontal brain activity in 48 healthy infants aged 1-8 months during natural sleep and auditory stimulation. By analyzing the fluctuations in frequency-domain characteristics of functional connectivity (FC) and various brain network properties, we found that: under auditory stimulation, the intensity of FC fluctuations in the ultra-low frequency range was positively correlated with age; while in the resting state, the fluctuation intensity of network properties in relatively higher frequency bands decreased with age. Furthermore, auditory stimulation reconfigured the energy distribution of network fluctuations, shifting it towards higher frequency bands. These results suggest that the early development of the infant prefrontal internal network is characterized by state-dependent optimization of its dynamic fluctuation properties, shedding light on the developmental tuning of functional network dynamics in infancy.