title: Emerging structure-function relations in the developing face processing system.
abstract: To evaluate emerging structure-function relations in a neural circuit that mediates complex behavior, we investigated age-related differences among cortical regions that support face recognition behavior and the fiber tracts through which they transmit and receive signals using functional neuroimaging and diffusion tensor imaging. In a large sample of human participants (aged 6-23 years), we derived the microstructural and volumetric properties of the inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF), the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, and control tracts, using independently defined anatomical markers. We also determined the functional characteristics of core face- and place-selective regions that are distributed along the trajectory of the pathways of interest. We observed disproportionately large age-related differences in the volume, fractional anisotropy, and mean and radial, but not axial, diffusivities of the ILF. Critically, these differences in the structural properties of the ILF were tightly and specifically linked with an age-related increase in the size of a key face-selective functional region, the fusiform face area. This dynamic association between emerging structural and functional architecture in the developing brain may provide important clues about the mechanisms by which neural circuits become organized and optimized in the human cortex.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
authors.forename: K Suzanne
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Scherf
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Brain and Cognition, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA, Center for Neuroscience and Regenerative Medicine at the Uniformed Services, University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Cibu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA and.
authors.forename: Jaime
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Doyle
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA and Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
authors.forename: Marlene
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Behrmann
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D016880:Anisotropy; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002648:Child; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology; D066127:White Matter / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
keywords: DTI; IFOF; ILF; adolescent; child; development; fMRI; visual processing