Brain Function in Early Childhood: Individual Differences in Age and Attentive Traits

Tansey, Ryann Claire

Brain Function in Early Childhood: Individual Differences in Age and Attentive Traits

dc.contributor.advisor	Bray, Signe Lauren
dc.contributor.author	Tansey, Ryann Claire
dc.contributor.committeemember	Dewey, Deborah Maryanne
dc.contributor.committeemember	Iaria, Giuseppe
dc.contributor.committeemember	Kopala Sibley, Daniel Cameron
dc.contributor.committeemember	Cusack, Rhodri
dc.date	2023-11
dc.date.accessioned	2023-09-27T14:18:14Z
dc.date.available	2023-09-27T14:18:14Z
dc.date.issued	2023-09-22
dc.description.abstract	Children, like adults, are unique individuals with complex interwoven relationships between brain function, behaviour, and phenotypic traits, which further interact with rapid developmental processes. A nuanced description of variability between children will add to our knowledge of how they think and behave, and potentially advance the development of personalized early interventions. With functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we have gained insight into brain responses – however, due to practical considerations, we have been unable to render a complete understanding of brain-behaviour relationships in young children. The use of naturalistic stimuli in fMRI studies has increased the ecological validity and the retention of developmental neuroimaging data. In this dissertation, I sought to explore the relationships between age, attentive traits, and inter-individual variability of brain function in young children in naturalistic paradigms. I conducted a scoping review to synthesize the current and historical task- and naturalistic-fMRI literature on the development of visual processing in the brain, through the lens of two influential theories: the interactive specialization and maturational frameworks. I found that while there is generally a consensus of progressive development of visual brain function throughout childhood, there is not enough evidence to fully support other aspects of these theories. I also conducted two experiments, using naturalistic fMRI and an analysis technique called inter-subject correlation (ISC), which quantifies the spatiotemporal similarity of brain activity between individuals, to explore how age and attentive traits affect inter-individual variability of brain function in children aged 4-8 years. I found that children’s brain responses to movies “homogenized” with increasing age in our sample, with greater variability seen in the younger children. Further, both inattention and hyperactivity were associated with ISC in the sample, though the relationships with these traits were different in widespread regions of the brain. Together, my research advances our understanding of functional brain responses in children and underscores the importance of an individual differences approach to developmental neuroimaging.
dc.identifier.citation	Tansey, R. C. (2023). Brain function in early childhood: individual differences in age and attentive traits (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/1880/117218
dc.identifier.uri	https://doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/42060
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher.faculty	Cumming School of Medicine
dc.publisher.institution	University of Calgary
dc.rights	University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subject	fMRI
dc.subject	developmental neuroimaging
dc.subject.classification	Neuroscience
dc.title	Brain Function in Early Childhood: Individual Differences in Age and Attentive Traits
dc.type	doctoral thesis
thesis.degree.discipline	Medicine – Neuroscience
thesis.degree.grantor	University of Calgary
thesis.degree.name	Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
ucalgary.thesis.accesssetbystudent	I do not require a thesis withhold – my thesis will have open access and can be viewed and downloaded publicly as soon as possible.