Reshaping the Cortical Connectivity Gradient by Long-Term Cognitive Training During Development
Tianyong Xu1 · Yunying Wu2 · Yi Zhang1,3 · Xi‑Nian Zuo4,5 · Feiyan Chen1,6 · Changsong Zhou1,6,71 Bio-X Laboratory, School of Physics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
2 Qiushi Academy for Advanced Studies, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
3 State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, College of Optical Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
4 State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
5 Developmental Population Neuroscience Research Center, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
6 Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Quantum Technology and Devices, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
7 Department of Physics, Centre for Nonlinear Studies and Beijing-Hong Kong-Singapore Joint Centre for Nonlinear and Complex Systems (Hong Kong), Institute of Computational and Theoretical Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong 999077, China
Abstract
The organization of the brain follows a topological hierarchy that changes dynamically during development. However, it remains unknown whether and how cognitive training administered over multiple years during development can modify this hierarchical topology. By measuring the brain and behavior of school children who had carried out abacus-based mental calculation (AMC) training for five years (starting from 7 years to 12 years old) in pre-training and post-training, we revealed the reshaping effect of long-term AMC intervention during development on the brain hierarchical topology. We observed the development-induced emergence of the default network, AMC training-promoted shifting, and regional changes in cortical gradients. Moreover, the training-induced gradient changes were located in visual and somatomotor areas in association with the visuospatial/motor-imagery strategy. We found that gradient-based features can predict the math ability within groups. Our findings provide novel insights into the dynamic nature of network recruitment impacted by long-term cognitive training during development.
Keywords
Connectivity gradient; Cognitive training; Development; Neural plasticity; Abacus-based mental calculation
