Diffusion tensor imaging of white matter tract evolution over the lifespan
Abstract
Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has been used widely to show structural brain changes during both development and aging. Lifespan studies are valuable because they connect these two processes, yet few DTI studies have been conducted that include both children and elderly subjects. This study used DTI tractography to investigate 12 major white matter connections in 403 healthy subjects aged 5-83 years. Poisson fits were used to model changes of fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) across the age span, and were highly significant for all tracts. FA increased during childhood and adolescence, reached a peak between 20 and 42 years of age, and then decreased. MD showed an opposite trend, decreasing first, reaching a minimum at 18-41 years, and then increasing later in life. These trajectories demonstrate rates and timing of development and degradation that vary regionally in the brain. The corpus callosum and fornix showed early reversals of development trends, while frontal-temporal connections (cingulum, uncinate, superior longitudinal) showed more prolonged maturation and delayed declines. FA changes were driven by perpendicular diffusivity, suggesting changes of myelination and/or axonal density. Tract volume changed significantly with age for most tracts, but did not greatly influence the FA and MD trajectories. This study demonstrates clear age-related microstructural changes throughout the brain white matter, and provides normative data that will be useful f…
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The mean age to reach peak fractional anisotropy in the cingulum is 42 years.
“Remarkably, the mean age to reach peak fractional anisotropy was found to be 42 years (Lebel et al., 2012), making the cingulum one of the last major tracts to mature by this measure.”
From The cingulum bundle: Anatomy, function, and dysfunction (2018) · cites this paper as Lebel et al., 2012
Diffusion imaging studies show an extended period of cingulum maturation through adolescence and beyond, often not reaching adult characteristics until the mid twenties or later.
“Diffusion imaging studies have revealed an extended period of cingulum maturation through adolescence and beyond, often not reaching its adult characteristics until the mid twenties or later (Lebel and Beaulieu, 2011; Lebel et al., 2012).”
From The cingulum bundle: Anatomy, function, and dysfunction (2018) · cites this paper as Lebel et al., 2012
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- Authors
- Lebel, C., Gee, M., Camicioli, R., Wieler, M., Martin, W., & Beaulieu, C.
- Affiliations
- University of Alberta (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Beaulieu, C.
- Venue
- NeuroImage
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2012-03
- Volume
- 60
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 340-352
- ISSN
- 1053-8119 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1983906797
- Cited by
- 1,100
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2026: 46 · 2025: 73 · 2024: 62 · 2023: 81 · 2022: 91 · 2021: 94 · 2020: 95 · 2019: 79 · 2018: 89 · 2017: 87 · 2016: 87 · 2015: 73 · 2014: 65 · 2013: 62 · 2012: 14
- FWCI
- 34.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- NeuroImage (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Canada Foundation for Innovation
- Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network
- Alberta Innovates
- Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Cognitive Abilities and Testing
- Keywords
- white matter development, white matter aging, fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, white matter microstructure, corpus callosum, fornix, cingulum, uncinate fasciculus, superior longitudinal fasciculus, myelination, axon density, tract volume, reference values
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Brain, Child, Child, Preschool, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Organ Size, Young Adult, Diffusion Tensor Imaging
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