Unique local gradient-based functional fingerprints enable precisely identifying individual infants over ages.
- 1Department of Radiology and Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, 27599, NC, USA.
- 2Department of Radiology and Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, 27599, NC, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
Abstract
Brain functional connectivity (FC) exhibits individualized patterns that can serve as reliable "fingerprints" for identifying individual adults. However, the rapid and complex development of the infant brain poses significant challenges in establishing individualized, developmentally-robust functional fingerprints during infancy. In this study, we introduce a novel approach that captures fine-grained local gradients of FC derived from functional MRI, enabling precise characterization of unique subject-specific FC patterns. Our method achieved approximately 99% individual identification accuracy across longitudinal scans spanning infancy in 103 infants, substantially outperforming conventional connectome-based fingerprinting, which achieved approximately 70% accuracy. Importantly, these local gradient-based functional fingerprints, predominantly localized within association and sensory networks, were also modestly but significantly associated with infant cognitive performance. Together, these findings support the existence of individualized functional fingerprints that are stable across dynamic early brain development, offering new insights into the early development of functional individuality and its cognitive relevance.
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BibTeX
@article{yuan2026unique,
title = {{Unique local gradient-based functional fingerprints enable precisely identifying individual infants over ages.}},
author = {Xinrui Yuan and Dan Hu and Jiale Cheng and Zhengwang Wu and Li Wang and Weili Lin and Gang Li},
journal = {Developmental cognitive neuroscience},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101828},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42858495},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Unique local gradient-based functional fingerprints enable precisely identifying individual infants over ages.
AU - Xinrui Yuan
AU - Dan Hu
AU - Jiale Cheng
AU - Zhengwang Wu
AU - Li Wang
AU - Weili Lin
AU - Gang Li
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/03
JO - Developmental cognitive neuroscience
DO - 10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101828
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42858495
AB - Brain functional connectivity (FC) exhibits individualized patterns that can serve as reliable "fingerprints" for identifying individual adults. However, the rapid and complex development of the infant brain poses significant challenges in establishing individualized, developmentally-robust functional fingerprints during infancy. In this study, we introduce a novel approach that captures fine-grained local gradients of FC derived from functional MRI, enabling precise characterization of unique subject-specific FC patterns. Our method achieved approximately 99% individual identification accuracy across longitudinal scans spanning infancy in 103 infants, substantially outperforming conventional connectome-based fingerprinting, which achieved approximately 70% accuracy. Importantly, these local gradient-based functional fingerprints, predominantly localized within association and sensory networks, were also modestly but significantly associated with infant cognitive performance. Together, these findings support the existence of individualized functional fingerprints that are stable across dynamic early brain development, offering new insights into the early development of functional individuality and its cognitive relevance.
SN - 1878-9293
SN - 1878-9307
ER -