Early functional organization of the anterior and posterior hippocampus in the fetal brain.

ABSTRACT: The hippocampus, in both children and adults, has shown functional specialization along its long axis, with the anterior region associated with emotional processing and the posterior region with spatial memory and navigation. This specialization is also reflected in separate patterns of functional connectivity, but it is unclear whether it is present before birth. Here, we collected resting-state fMRI data in 51 healthy third-trimester fetuses to examine long-axis functional specialization in utero. Using structural regions of interest in the anterior and posterior hippocampus, a seed-based connectivity analysis was performed. We identified distinct networks of functional organization for the anterior and posterior hippocampus. These patterns showed spatial organization and anticorrelation

SUBMITTER: Nichols ES 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12687868 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature