title: Organizing Principles of Human Cortical Development--Thickness and Area from 4 to 30 Years: Insights from Comparative Primate Neuroanatomy.
abstract: The human cerebral cortex undergoes a protracted, regionally heterogeneous development well into young adulthood. Cortical areas that expand the most during human development correspond to those that differ most markedly when the brains of macaque monkeys and humans are compared. However, it remains unclear to what extent this relationship derives from allometric scaling laws that apply to primate brains in general, or represents unique evolutionary adaptations. Furthermore, it is unknown whether the relationship only applies to surface area (SA), or also holds for cortical thickness (CT). In 331 participants aged 4 to 30, we calculated age functions of SA and CT, and examined the correspondence of human cortical development with macaque to human expansion, and with expansion across nonhuman primates. CT followed a linear negative age function from 4 to 30 years, while SA showed positive age functions until 12 years with little further development. Differential cortical expansion across primates was related to regional maturation of SA and CT, with age trajectories differing between high- and low-expanding cortical regions. This relationship adhered to allometric scaling laws rather than representing uniquely macaque-human differences: regional correspondence with human development was as large for expansion across nonhuman primates as between humans and macaque.
authors.affiliation: Research Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Inge K
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Amlien
authors.affiliation: Research Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.|Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Unit of Neuropsychology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Anders M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Fjell
authors.affiliation: Research Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Christian K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Tamnes
authors.affiliation: Research Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Håkon
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Grydeland
authors.affiliation: Research Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Stine K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Krogsrud
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology.|Monash Vision Group, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia.|ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Clayton, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Tristan A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Chaplin
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology.|Monash Vision Group, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia.|ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Brain Function, Clayton, VIC, Australia.
authors.forename: Marcello G P
authors.initials: MGP
authors.lastname: Rosa
authors.affiliation: Research Group for Lifespan Changes in Brain and Cognition, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.|Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Unit of Neuropsychology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Kristine B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Walhovd
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000254:growth & development*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008251:Macaca; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009445:Neuroanatomy / Q000379:methods; D011340:Problem Solving / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: area; cortex; development; evolution; thickness