Abstract
Spatially remote brain regions show dynamic functional interactions during various task conditions. Time-varying functional connectivity measured during movie watching was sensitive to movie content, while stationary functional connectivity remains stable across videos. Therefore, it has been suggested that dynamic and stationary functional interactions may reflect different aspects of brain function. However, how individual differences in time-varying and stationary connectivity are associated with behavioral phenotypes is still unclear. We analyzed an open-access functional MRI dataset collected from participants (5 to 22 years old) as they watched two cartoon movie clips. Regional brain activity, time-varying and stationary functional connectivity were calculated, and associations with age, sex, and behavioral assessments were examined. Using a model comparison method, we showed that time-varying connectivity was more sensitive to age and sex effects compared with stationary connectivity. The preferred age models were quadratic log age or quadratic age effects, corresponding to inverted-U shaped developmental curves. In addition, females showed higher consistency in regional brain activity and time-varying connectivity than males. However, in terms of behavioral predictions, only stationary connectivity could predict full-scale intelligence quotient. The results suggest that individual differences in time-varying and stationary connectivity may reflect different aspects of behavioral phenotypes.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
