title: Individual differences in children's global motion sensitivity correlate with TBSS-based measures of the superior longitudinal fasciculus.
abstract: Reduced global motion sensitivity, relative to global static form sensitivity, has been found in children with many neurodevelopmental disorders, leading to the "dorsal stream vulnerability" hypothesis (Braddick et al., 2003). Individual differences in typically developing children's global motion thresholds have been shown to be associated with variations in specific parietal cortical areas (Braddick et al., 2016). Here, in 125 children aged 5-12years, we relate individual differences in global motion and form coherence thresholds to fractional anisotropy (FA) in the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), a major fibre tract communicating between parietal lobe and anterior cortical areas. We find a positive correlation between FA of the right SLF and individual children's sensitivity to global motion coherence, while FA of the left SLF shows a negative correlation. Further analysis of parietal cortical area data shows that this is also asymmetrical, showing a stronger association with global motion sensitivity in the left hemisphere. None of these associations hold for an analogous measure of global form sensitivity. We conclude that a complex pattern of structural asymmetry, including the parietal lobe and the superior longitudinal fasciculus, is specifically linked to the development of sensitivity to global visual motion. This pattern suggests that individual differences in motion sensitivity are primarily linked to parietal brain areas interacting with frontal systems in making decisions on integrated motion signals, rather than in the extra-striate visual areas that perform the initial integration. The basis of motion processing deficits in neurodevelopmental disorders may depend on these same structures.
authors: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK. Electronic address: oliver.braddick@psy.ox.ac.uk.
authors: Oliver
authors: O
authors: Braddick
authors: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK; Faculty of Brain Sciences, University College London, UK.
authors: Janette
authors: J
authors: Atkinson
authors: Center for Human Development, University of California San Diego, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
authors: Natacha
authors: N
authors: Akshoomoff
authors: Center for Human Development, University of California San Diego, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
authors: Erik
authors: E
authors: Newman
authors: Center for Human Development, University of California San Diego, CA, USA; Department of Cognitive Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
authors: Lauren B
authors: LB
authors: Curley
authors: Center for Human Development, University of California San Diego, CA, USA; Department of Cognitive Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
authors: Marybel Robledo
authors: MR
authors: Gonzalez
authors: Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA; Department of Multimodal Imaging Laboratory, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
authors: Timothy
authors: T
authors: Brown
authors: Department of Radiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA; Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA; Department of Cognitive Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA; Department of Multimodal Imaging Laboratory, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
authors: Anders
authors: A
authors: Dale
authors: Center for Human Development, University of California San Diego, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA; Department of Radiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA; Department of Cognitive Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
authors: Terry
authors: T
authors: Jernigan
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D009039:Motion Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology; D066127:White Matter / Q000033:anatomy & histology*
keywords: Fractional anisotropy; Global form sensitivity; Global motion sensitivity; Individual differences; Superior longitudinal fasciculus; Visual brain development