TY - JOUR TI - Development of visual cortex in human neonates is selectively modified by postnatal experience AU - Li, Mingyang AU - Liu, Tingting AU - Xu, Xinyi AU - Wen, Qingqing AU - Zhao, Zhiyong AU - Dang, Xixi AU - Zhang, Yi AU - Wu, Dan A2 - Natu, Vaidehi A2 - Gold, Joshua I A2 - Ellis, Cameron VL - 11 PY - 2022 DA - 2022/11/18 SP - e78733 C1 - eLife 2022;11:e78733 DO - 10.7554/eLife.78733 UR - https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.78733 AB - Experience-dependent cortical plasticity is a pivotal process of human brain development and essential for the formation of most cognitive functions. Although studies found that early visual experience could influence the endogenous development of visual cortex in animals, little is known about such impact on human infants. Using the multimodal MRI data from the developing human connectome project, we characterized the early structural and functional maps in the ventral visual cortex and their development during neonatal period. Particularly, we found that postnatal time selectively modulated the cortical thickness in the ventral visual cortex and the functional circuit between bilateral primary visual cortices. But the cortical myelination and functional connections of the high-order visual cortex developed without significant influence of postnatal time in such an early period. The structure–function analysis further revealed that the postnatal time had a direct influence on the development of homotopic connection in area V1, while gestational time had an indirect effect on it through cortical myelination. These findings were further validated in preterm-born infants who had longer postnatal time but shorter gestational time at birth. In short, these data suggested in human newborns that early postnatal time shaped the structural and functional development of the visual cortex in selective and organized patterns. KW - visual cortex KW - neonatal development KW - cortical structure KW - functional connectivity KW - experience-dependent plasticity JF - eLife SN - 2050-084X PB - eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd ER -