Cited by 212Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and ApplicationsFunctional Brain Connectivity StudiesAdvanced MRI Techniques and Applications

Quantitative tract-based white matter development from birth to age 2 years

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Geng, Xiujuan, Gouttard, Sylvain, Sharma, Anuja, Gu, Hongbin, Styner, Martin, Lin, Weili, Gerig, Guido, Gilmore, John H.·2012·NeuroImage

Abstract

Few large-scale studies have been done to characterize the normal human brain white matter growth in the first years of life. We investigated white matter maturation patterns in major fiber pathways in a large cohort of healthy young children from birth to age two using diffusion parameters fractional anisotropy (FA), radial diffusivity (RD) and axial diffusivity (RD). Ten fiber pathways, including commissural, association and projection tracts, were examined with tract-based analysis, providing more detailed and continuous spatial developmental patterns compared to conventional ROI based methods. All DTI data sets were transformed to a population specific atlas with a group-wise longitudinal large deformation diffeomorphic registration approach. Diffusion measurements were analyzed along the major fiber tracts obtained in the atlas space. All fiber bundles show increasing FA values and decreasing radial and axial diffusivities during development in the first 2years of life. The changing rates of the diffusion indices are faster in the first year than the second year for all tracts. RD and FA show larger percentage changes in the first and second years than AD. The gender effects on the diffusion measures are small. Along different spatial locations of fiber tracts, maturation does not always follow the same speed. Temporal and spatial diffusion changes near cortical regions are in general smaller than changes in central regions. Overall developmental patterns revealed in our study confirm the general rules of white matter maturation. This work shows a promising framework to study and analyze white matter maturation in a tract-based fashion. Compared to most previous studies that are ROI-based, our approach has the potential to discover localized development patterns associated with fiber tracts of interest.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.03.057

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  • With postnatal development, axial and radial diffusivity decrease while fractional anisotropy increases, thought to reflect increasing organization of already established white matter tracts, including myelination.

    “With postnatal development, measures of white-matter microstructure and maturation, including axial diffusivity [G] (AD) and radial diffusivity [G] (RD), decrease, whereas fractional anisotropy [G] (FA) increases, thought to reflect the increasing organization of the already established white matter tracts, including myelination5,32.”
  • DTI studies find minimal sex differences in neonates and in the maturation pattern of major white-matter fibre bundles over time.

    “DTI studies find minimal sex differences in neonates128, 129 and in the maturation pattern of major white-matter fibre bundles with time32.”

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  1. Sampaio RC Truwit CL Myelination in the Developing Human Brain 2001 Cambridge, Mass MIT Press

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Authors
Geng, X., Gouttard, S., Sharma, A., Gu, H., Styner, M., Lin, W., Gerig, G., & Gilmore, J. H.
Affiliations
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
  • University of Utah (US)
Corresponding author
Geng, Xiujuan
Venue
NeuroImage
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2012-07
Volume
61
Issue
3
Pages
542-557
ISSN
1053-8119 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2153736782
Cited by
212
References
93
Citations by year
2026: 12 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 22 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 18 · 2017: 13 · 2016: 22 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 16 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 6
FWCI
10.63
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • NeuroImage (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) (submittedVersion)
  • The HKU Scholars Hub (University of Hong Kong) (submittedVersion)
  • UNC Libraries
Funders
National Institutes of Health (BRP R01 NS5055754, MH070890, MH091645, NA-MIC U54 EB005149, P30 HD03110, P50 MH064065)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced MRI Techniques and Applications
Keywords
white matter maturation, infant brain development, first two years of life, fiber tracts, fractional anisotropy, radial diffusivity, axial diffusivity, commissural tracts, association tracts, gender differences, cortical white matter
MeSH terms
Aging, Apgar Score, Brain, Brain Mapping, Data Interpretation, Statistical, Educational Status, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Infant, Infant, Newborn, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Mothers, Nerve Fibers, Neural Pathways, Reference Values, Regression Analysis, Sex Characteristics, Anisotropy, Diffusion Tensor Imaging

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