{
  "abstract": "Intrinsic timescale is a commonly used measure of spontaneous neural dynamics that quantifies the temporal window of processing of neuronal populations. Intrinsic timescale displays a hierarchical cortical organization across multiple species and imaging modalities, with shorter timescales in sensorimotor cortex compared to association cortex. However, less is known about how intrinsic timescale evolves during human brain development and whether its cortical maturation patterns generalize to independent developmental samples. Here we estimate the intrinsic timescale in two independent cross-sectional datasets of youth (HCPD: n = 565; HBN: n = 729; age range 8–22 years) and investigate its neurodevelopmental patterns. We find that developmental patterns in the intrinsic timescale follow a hierarchical pattern that recapitulates an axis spanning sensorimotor to association cortices (S–A axis). Our analysis of an independent healthy young adult dataset (HCPYA: n = 973, age range 22–37 years) underscores the specificity of these developmental findings, suggesting that the intrinsic timescale develops along the S–A axis in youth and stabilizes in adulthood. Together, these results reveal convergence between major axes of cortical organization and development, highlighting intrinsic timescale as a principled marker of hierarchical brain maturation in youth.\n\nIntrinsic timescale reflects the temporal window of neural processing, but how it matures across the human cortex during development remains unclear. This study shows that intrinsic timescale develops hierarchically from sensorimotor to association cortices across youth, recapitulating major cortical organization axes before stabilizing in adulthood.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Penn Lifespan Informatics and Neuroimaging Center (PennLINC), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America",
    "Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America",
    "Lifespans Brain Institute (LiBI), Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America",
    "Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America",
    "Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America",
    "Department of Electrical & Systems Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America",
    "Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America",
    "Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America",
    "Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America",
    "Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America",
    "Center for Biomedical Image Computing and Analytics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America",
    "Child Mind Institute, New York, New York, United States of America",
    "Center for Biomedical Imaging and Neuromodulation, Nathan Kline Institute, Orangeburg, New York, United States of America",
    "Department of Psychiatry, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York, United States of America",
    "Department of Psychiatry, Brain Health Institute, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, United States of America",
    "Department of Psychology and Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America",
    "Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America",
    "Penn Statistics in Imaging and Visualization Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America"
  ],
  "article_type": "Research Article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 18,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Golia Shafiei"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Joëlle Bagautdinova"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Valerie J. Sydnor"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Dani S. Bassett"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Deanna M. Barch"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Matthew Cieslak"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        6
      ],
      "name": "Yong Fan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        7
      ],
      "name": "Elizabeth Flook"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8
      ],
      "name": "Alexandre R. Franco"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        9
      ],
      "name": "Gregory Kiar"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        10
      ],
      "name": "Audrey C. Luo"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        11
      ],
      "name": "Michael P. Milham"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        12
      ],
      "name": "Linden Parkes"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        13
      ],
      "name": "Taylor Salo"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        14
      ],
      "name": "Leah H. Somerville"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        15
      ],
      "name": "Tien T. Tong"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        16
      ],
      "name": "Russell T. Shinohara"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        17
      ],
      "name": "Theodore D. Satterthwaite"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/edtw3htj9s8b1.bib",
  "cited_by": 1,
  "doi": "10.1371/journal.pbio.3004037",
  "fulltext_url": "https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3004037",
  "id": "edtw3htj9s8b1",
  "issns": [
    "1545-7885"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3004037",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2805|Functional Brain Connectivity Studies"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Developmental biology/Morphogenesis/Pattern formation"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Neuroscience/Brain mapping/Functional magnetic resonance imaging"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Neuroscience/Cognitive science/Cognitive psychology/Perception/Sensory perception"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Neuroscience/Neuroimaging/Functional magnetic resonance imaging"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Neuroscience/Sensory perception"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Biology and life sciences/Psychology/Cognitive psychology/Perception/Sensory perception"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Computer and information sciences/Software engineering/Preprocessing"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Engineering and technology/Measurement/Time measurement"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Engineering and technology/Signal processing/Autocorrelation"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Engineering and technology/Software engineering/Preprocessing"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Medicine and health sciences/Diagnostic medicine/Diagnostic radiology/Magnetic resonance imaging/Functional magnetic resonance imaging"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Medicine and health sciences/Radiology and imaging/Diagnostic radiology/Magnetic resonance imaging/Functional magnetic resonance imaging"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/People and places/Population groupings/Age groups/Adults/Young adults"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Physical sciences/Mathematics/Statistics/Statistical methods/Autocorrelation"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Physical sciences/Mathematics/Statistics/Statistical methods/Regression analysis/Linear regression analysis"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Research and analysis methods/Imaging techniques/Diagnostic radiology/Magnetic resonance imaging/Functional magnetic resonance imaging"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Research and analysis methods/Imaging techniques/Neuroimaging/Functional magnetic resonance imaging"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Research and analysis methods/Mathematical and statistical techniques/Statistical methods/Autocorrelation"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Research and analysis methods/Mathematical and statistical techniques/Statistical methods/Regression analysis/Linear regression analysis"
    ],
    [
      "plos",
      "/Social sciences/Psychology/Cognitive psychology/Perception/Sensory perception"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7214789559",
  "pdf_url": "https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3004037&type=printable",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-29",
  "publisher": "Public Library of Science",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/edtw3htj9s8b1.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:37Z",
      "native_id": "10.1371/journal.pbio.3004037",
      "source": "plos",
      "url": "https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3004037"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "plos:neuroscience",
      "subfield": "neuroscience"
    },
    {
      "field": "mathematics",
      "origin": "plos:statistical methods",
      "subfield": "statistics"
    },
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "plos:diagnostic radiology",
      "subfield": "imaging"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Intrinsic timescale develops hierarchically from sensorimotor to association cortex in youth and stabilizes in adulthood",
  "title_text": "Intrinsic timescale develops hierarchically from sensorimotor to association cortex in youth and stabilizes in adulthood",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:37Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/edtw3htj9s8b1",
  "venue": "PLOS Biology",
  "versions": []
}