In the social sciences, the problem is to relate observable functions to unobservable and hypothetical structures. In the neurosciences, brain structures can be identified by various means and the problem is then to know what functions they serve. In the study of ontogenetic development, the ongoing issue is to account for the ways in which changes in neural structure relate to changes in function. Certainly, it is now generally accepted that structure-function relationships during development are not ones to be construed as those between an independent (i.e., structure) and a dependent (i.e., function) variable. Rather, there is an ongoing reciprocal relationship between structure and function throughout the whole of development as well as between function and changes in body dimensions and environmental circumstances.
See Antecedent-consequent relationships, Function, Human Connectome Project (HCP), Structure