Sophia Robert¹ (), Michael C. Granovetter^2,3, Christina Patterson², Marlene Behrmann^1,2; ¹Carnegie Mellon University, ²University of Pittsburgh, ³New York University

Many children demonstrate remarkable cognitive capacities following extensive cortical resections, underscoring the potential of neural plasticity to support recovery or maintenance of function during development. While previous analyses have used static functional connectivity (FC) to explore neural differences in pediatric epilepsy patients after cortical resection, this study shifts focus to characterize the temporal network dynamics of the intact hemisphere of these patients. Blood oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) responses were recorded from patients with childhood cortical resections for drug-resistant epilepsy (n = 10, ages 15–37, 4 left- and 6 right-hemisphere resections) and controls (n = 9, ages 8–38) while viewing and listening to an 11-minute movie segment. BOLD responses were mapped to the cortical surfaces of patients' intact hemispheres and both hemispheres of controls and parcellated into 180 surface-defined regions using the Glasser HCP atlas. Inter-subject correlations of timecourse activity were computed across 180 regions and 22 functional networks to assess temporal dynamics of hierarchical processing. Results revealed significant network-specific reductions in inter-group synchrony in patients, regardless of resected hemisphere, compared to controls. Patients displayed divergent temporal profiles in many regions including visual, auditory, motor, and parietal areas. In contrast, some regions, such as the lateral temporal and inferior frontal cortices exhibited similar temporal dynamics across patients and controls, potentially reflecting preserved connectivity in these areas. These differences could indicate adjustments to altered processing demands in patients, who rely on largely or entirely unilateral networks for functions typically distributed bilaterally. Our findings characterize the temporal dynamics of neural networks after cortical resection, with disrupted temporal dynamics in sensory and associative regions contrasting with preserved function in others, advancing our understanding of neural organization in pediatric epilepsy.