ArticleNature neuroscience2025
Human thalamocortical structural connectivity develops in line with a hierarchical axis of cortical plasticity.
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Article in Nature neuroscience, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed.
- Article
- Anatomical white matter tracts span the cortical hierarchy to support cognitive diversity.Nature human behaviour · 2026Article
- Region- and Layer-Specific Glutamatergic Synapse Development in the Nascent Cortical Hierarchy.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026Article
- Perinatal Factors and Neuroimaging Changes for Brain Maturation Among Adolescents.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Thalamocortical orchestration of human theory of mind.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Early-life medial pulvinar disruption drives schizophrenia-relevant prefrontal inhibitory and cognitive deficits in primates.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Fibrinogen as a Driver of Oxidative Stress and Apoptosis in the Fetal Brain After Maternal Influenza.Research square · 2026Article
- Multiscale brain development across the human lifespan.Communications biology · 2026Review
- Nucleus-level thalamic organization anchors multimodal signatures of thalamocortical maturation.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Article
- Cortical morphometric inverse divergence in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder correlates with cell-type-specific, laminar-specific and developmental transcriptomic signatures.Psychological medicine · 2026Article
- White matter reflects the childhood exposome.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Highly replicable multisite patterns of adolescent white matter maturation.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Two axes of white matter development.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Cortical hierarchy and aphasia severity: the sensorimotor-association gradient modulates lesion effects within language-specific networks.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Neuroretinal damage associated with pituitary macroadenoma: endocrine and radiological predictors and correlation with optical coherence tomography-derived biomarkers.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Observational
- Neurochemical-hemodynamic-electrophysiological coupling in the neonatal brain: a multimodal MRS-fMRI-EEG investigation.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Article
- One-month early time-restricted eating enhances cognition via white matter-cortical pathways in males with metabolic syndrome: evidence from TBSS and SBM analyses.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Recreating the human brain: Are assembloids merely descriptive models?Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2026Review
- Convergent and divergent spatial topographies of individualized brain functional networks and their developmental origins.Psychoradiology · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
27 authors.
Valerie J SydnorPenn Lifespan Informatics and Neuroimaging Center (PennLINC), Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. sydnorvj@upmc.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8640-668X
Joëlle BagautdinovaPenn Lifespan Informatics and Neuroimaging Center (PennLINC), Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7201-467X
Bart LarsenPenn Lifespan Informatics and Neuroimaging Center (PennLINC), Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Michael J ArcaroDepartment of Psychology, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4612-9921
Deanna M BarchDepartment of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, St Louis, MO, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1693-8506
Dani S BassettDepartment of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6183-4493
Aaron F Alexander-BlochDepartment of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6554-1893
Philip A CookPenn Image Computing and Science Lab (PICSL), Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Sydney CovitzPenn Lifespan Informatics and Neuroimaging Center (PennLINC), Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Alexandre R FrancoCenter for Biomedical Imaging and Neuromodulation, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA.
Raquel E GurLifespan Brain Institute (LiBI), The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Ruben C GurLifespan Brain Institute (LiBI), The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4082-8502
Allyson P MackeyDepartment of Psychology, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Kahini MehtaPenn Lifespan Informatics and Neuroimaging Center (PennLINC), Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9466-100X
Steven L MeislerPenn Lifespan Informatics and Neuroimaging Center (PennLINC), Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8888-1572
Michael P MilhamCenter for Biomedical Imaging and Neuromodulation, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, Orangeburg, NY, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3532-1210
Tyler M MooreLifespan Brain Institute (LiBI), The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1384-0151
Eli J MüllerSchool of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2497-0194
David R RoalfLifespan Brain Institute (LiBI), The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1728-9782
Taylor SaloPenn Lifespan Informatics and Neuroimaging Center (PennLINC), Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Gabriel SchubinerStrategic Data Initiatives, Child Mind Institute, New York City, NY, USA.
Jakob SeidlitzDepartment of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8164-7476
Russell T ShinoharaPenn Statistics in Imaging and Visualization Center, Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Informatics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
James M ShineSchool of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1762-5499
Fang-Cheng YehDepartment of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7946-2173
Matthew Cieslak *Penn Lifespan Informatics and Neuroimaging Center (PennLINC), Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1931-4734
Theodore D Satterthwaite *Penn Lifespan Informatics and Neuroimaging Center (PennLINC), Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA. sattertt@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7072-9399
Funding
Project 5: ComputationalP50MH109429 · NIMH · NATHAN S. KLINE INSTITUTE FOR PSYCH RES · PI STEPHANIE Ruggiano JONES · 2017 to 2026
$25.3MPenn Mental Health AIDS Research CenterP30MH097488 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI Karine Dube, Kelly L Jordan-Sciutto · 2013 to 2026
$23.5MTRAINING FOR SPEECH AND HEARING SCIENCEST32DC000038 · NIDCD · MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · PI Gwenaelle S Geleoc · 1992 to 2026
$21.8MLongitudinal Mapping of Network Development Underlying Executive Dysfunction in AdolescenceR01MH113550 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI Danielle Smith Bassett, Theodore Satterthwaite · 2018 to 2026
$6.9MTraining for Transformative Discovery in PsychiatryT32MH016804 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · PI SWEET, ROBERT A · 1985 to 2025
$6.2MSCHIZOPHRENIA: A NEUROPSYCHIATRIC PERSPECTIVET32MH019112 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI GUR, RAQUEL E · 1990 to 2024
$6.2MInter-modal Coupling Image AnalyticsR01MH112847 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI Theodore Satterthwaite, Russell Takeshi Shinohara · 2017 to 2026
$5.9MPrecision mapping of individualized executive networks in youthR37MH125829 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · PI Damien A Fair, Theodore Satterthwaite · 2021 to 2026
$4.7MThe Genetics of Personalized Functional MRI NetworksR01MH132934 · NIMH · CHILDREN'S HOSP OF PHILADELPHIA · PI Aaron Felix Alexander-Bloch · 2023 to 2026
$4.2MHarmonization of Multi-Site Neuroimaging Data from Complex Study DesignsR01MH123550 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI SHINOHARA, RUSSELL TAKESHI · 2020 to 2025
$4.0MUltra-high field GluCEST MRI and MRS in youth at risk for psychosisR01MH120174 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI ROALF, DAVID R · 2020 to 2024
$3.8MEvolution of Psychosis in Youth: Multimodal Risk and Resilience MarkersR01MH119219 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI GUR, RAQUEL E, GUR, RUBEN C. · 2019 to 2023
$3.8MNational Science Foundation (NSF) DGE-1845298NICHD NIH HHS F31 HD111139NIDCD NIH HHS T32 DC000038NIH HHS S10 OD023495NIMH NIH HHS P30 MH097488NIMH NIH HHS P50 MH109429NIMH NIH HHS R00 MH127293NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH112847NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH113550NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH119185NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH119219NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH120174NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH120482NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH123550NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH123563NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH124045NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH130578NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH131638NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH132934NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH133334NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH133843NIMH NIH HHS R37 MH125829NIMH NIH HHS T32 MH016804NIMH NIH HHS T32 MH019112NINDS NIH HHS R01 NS112274NINDS NIH HHS U24 NS130411U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R00MH127293U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01EB022572U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01MH112847U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01MH113550U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01MH119185U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01MH119219U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01MH120174U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01MH120482U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01MH123550U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01MH123563U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01MH130578U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01MH131638U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01MH132934U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01MH133334U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R01MH133843U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R37MH125829U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) T32MH016804U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) T32MH019112U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) R01NS112274U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) U24NS130411U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | NIH Office of the Director (OD) S10OD023495
Abstract
Human cortical development follows a hierarchical, sensorimotor-to-association sequence. The brain's capacity to enact this sequence indicates that it relies on unknown mechanisms to regulate regional differences in the timing of cortical maturation. Given evidence from animal systems that thalamic axons mechanistically regulate periods of cortical plasticity, here we evaluate in humans whether the development of structural connections between the thalamus and cortex aligns with cortical maturational heterochronicity. By deriving a new tractography atlas of human thalamic connections and applying it to diffusion data from three youth samples (8-23 years; total n = 2,676), we demonstrate that thalamocortical connectivity matures in a generalizable manner along the cortex's sensorimotor-association axis. Associative cortical regions with thalamic connections that take the longest to mature exhibit neurochemical, structural and functional signatures of protracted developmental plasticity as well as heightened sensitivity to the socioeconomic environment. This work highlights the role of the thalamus in the expression of hierarchical periods of cortical developmental plasticity and environmental receptivity.
Indexed as
Cerebral CortexNeural PathwaysNeuronal PlasticityThalamusAdolescentChildDiffusion Tensor ImagingFemaleHumansMaleYoung Adult
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