  Network disruption during early brain development can result in long-term
cognitive impairments. In this study, we investigated rich-club organization in
resting-state functional brain networks in full-term neonates using a
multiscale connectivity analysis. We further identified the most influential
nodes, also called spreaders, having higher impacts on the flow of information
throughout the network. The network vulnerability to damage to rich-club (RC)
connectivity within and between resting-state networks was also assessed using
a graph-based vulnerability analysis. Our results revealed a rich club
organization and small-world topology for resting-state functional brain
networks in full term neonates, regardless of the network size. Interconnected
mostly through short-range connections, functional rich-club hubs were confined
to sensory-motor, cognitive-attention-salience (CAS), default mode, and
language-auditory networks with an average cross-scale overlap of 36%, 20%, 15%
and 12%, respectively. The majority of the functional hubs also showed high
spreading potential, except for several non-RC spreaders within CAS and
temporal networks. The functional networks exhibited high vulnerability to loss
of RC nodes within sensorimotor cortices, resulting in a significant increase
and decrease in network segregation and integration, respectively. The network
vulnerability to damage to RC nodes within the language-auditory,
cognitive-attention-salience, and default mode networks was also significant
but relatively less prominent. Our findings suggest that the network
integration in neonates can be highly compromised by damage to RC connectivity
due to brain immaturity.
