cognitive maturation [84]. An impactful recent study using multivariate pattern recognition analysis on brain development using resting state fMRI data on 238 subjects between 7 and 30 years showed that maturation was predicted by a non-linear pattern of increasingly longer range connections (integration) along the anterior posterior axis and progressively decreasing short-range connections (segregation) which peaked at age 22, whereby segregation was a better maturation predictor than integration [85]. Within the classification networks, right anterior prefrontal cortex and precuneus connections were the best predictors for brain maturity [85]. Interestingly, while there are significant correlations between structural and functional connectivity, functional connectivity is not entirely accounted for by structural connectivity since functional interconnectivity can be indirect [86]. The progressive increase in functional connectivity during the resting state as well as during cognitive maturation suggests that “progressive integration through progressive synchronization” [86] underlies the development of both closely interconnected task-positive and task-negative brain networks to provide mature cognitive performance.
