title: Modular Development of Cortical Gray Matter Across Childhood and Adolescence.
abstract: Brain maturation across childhood and adolescence is characterized by cortical thickness (CT) and volume contraction, and early expansion of surface area (SA). These processes occur asynchronously across the cortical surface, with functional, topographic, and network-based organizing principles proposed to account for developmental patterns. Characterizing regions undergoing synchronized development can help determine whether "maturational networks" overlap with well-described functional networks, and whether they are targeted by neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. In the present study, we modeled changes with age in CT, SA, and volume from 335 typically developing subjects in the NIH MRI study of normal brain development, with 262 followed longitudinally for a total of 724 scans. Vertices showing similar maturation between 5 and 22 years were grouped together using data-driven clustering. Patterns of CT development distinguished sensory and motor regions from association regions, and were vastly different from SA patterns, which separated anterior from posterior regions. Developmental modules showed little similarity to networks derived from resting-state functional connectivity. Our findings present a novel perspective on maturational changes across the cortex, showing that several proposed organizing principles of cortical development co-exist, albeit in different structural parameters, and enable visualization of developmental trends occurring in parallel at remote cortical sites.
authors.affiliation: Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, Alberta Children's Hospital, Calgary, AB, Canada T3B 6A8.|Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, AB, Canada T3B 6A8.|Biomedical Engineering Graduate Program.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Krongold
authors.affiliation: Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, Alberta Children's Hospital, Calgary, AB, Canada T3B 6A8.|Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, AB, Canada T3B 6A8.
authors.forename: Cassandra
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.affiliation: Child and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, Alberta Children's Hospital, Calgary, AB, Canada T3B 6A8.|Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Calgary, AB, Canada T3B 6A8.|Department of Radiology, Cumming School of Medicine.|Department of Pediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada T2N 1N4.
authors.forename: Signe
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bray
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000254:growth & development*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000254:growth & development*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000254:growth & development; D059906:Neuroimaging; D012016:Reference Values; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: MRI; cortical thickness; maturation; networks; surface area