Characterizing longitudinal white matter development during early childhood

Post-mortem studies have shown the maturation of the brain’s myelinated white matter, crucial for efficient and coordinated brain communication, follows a nonlinear spatio-temporal pattern that corresponds with the onset and refinement of cognitive functions and behaviors. Unfortunately, investigati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBrain Structure and Function Vol. 220; no. 4; pp. 1921 - 1933
Main Authors Dean, Douglas C., O’Muircheartaigh, Jonathan, Dirks, Holly, Waskiewicz, Nicole, Walker, Lindsay, Doernberg, Ellen, Piryatinsky, Irene, Deoni, Sean C. L.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.07.2015
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects
Age Factors
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Brain
Brain Mapping
Cell Biology
Child
Child development
Child Development - physiology
Child, Preschool
Cognition
Female
Humans
Imaging, Three-Dimensional
Infant
Longitudinal Studies
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Neurology
Neuropsychological Tests
Neurosciences
NMR
Nuclear magnetic resonance
Original
Original Article
Sex Characteristics
White Matter - growth & development
White matter development
Myelin water fraction
Magnetic resonance imaging
Brain development
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Summary:Post-mortem studies have shown the maturation of the brain’s myelinated white matter, crucial for efficient and coordinated brain communication, follows a nonlinear spatio-temporal pattern that corresponds with the onset and refinement of cognitive functions and behaviors. Unfortunately, investigation of myelination in vivo is challenging and, thus, little is known about the normative pattern of myelination, or its association with functional development. Using a novel quantitative magnetic resonance imaging technique sensitive to myelin we examined longitudinal white matter development in 108 typically developing children ranging in age from 2.5 months to 5.5 years. Using nonlinear mixed effects modeling, we provide the first in vivo longitudinal description of myelin water fraction development. Moreover, we show distinct male and female developmental patterns, and demonstrate significant relationships between myelin content and measures of cognitive function. These findings advance a new understanding of healthy brain development and provide a foundation from which to assess atypical development.
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ISSN:1863-2653
1863-2661
0340-2061
DOI:10.1007/s00429-014-0763-3