title: Myelination shapes functional activity in the developing brain.
abstract: In humans, the function of spatial integration (SI) develops slowly, continuing through childhood into adolescence. To reveal its neural substrate in children and to examine the role of myelination in shaping SI-dependent functional activity, we applied a combined fMRI/MTI technique capable of tracking functional (BOLD response) and morphological (myelination) signs of maturation. Fourteen children (age 7-13) were scanned while viewing bilateral gratings, which either obeyed Gestalt grouping rules or violated them. A contrast between these stimuli revealed the BOLD response presumably induced by interhemispheric SI. It was limited to a small ventral stream territory in the lingual gyrus that corresponds to the VP part of the SI-induced activation found in adults in VP/V4 areas. The BOLD response correlated with myelination of splenial fibers. The data suggest that the activation of the extrastriate areas that enable an SI function depends on the maturation of long-range cortico-cortical connections.
authors: Department of Radiology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, 1011 Lausanne, Switzerland. Eleonora.Fornari@chuv.ch
authors: Eleonora
authors: E
authors: Fornari
authors: Maria G
authors: MG
authors: Knyazeva
authors: Reto
authors: R
authors: Meuli
authors: Philippe
authors: P
authors: Maeder
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008280:Magnetics; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values