title: Mapping the critical gestational age at birth that alters brain development in preterm-born infants using multi-modal MRI.
abstract: Preterm birth adversely affects postnatal brain development. In order to investigate the critical gestational age at birth (GAB) that alters the developmental trajectory of gray and white matter structures in the brain, we investigated diffusion tensor and quantitative T2 mapping data in 43 term-born and 43 preterm-born infants. A novel multivariate linear model-the change point model, was applied to detect change points in fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, and T2 relaxation time. Change points captured the "critical" GAB value associated with a change in the linear relation between GAB and MRI measures. The analysis was performed in 126 regions across the whole brain using an atlas-based image quantification approach to investigate the spatial pattern of the critical GAB. Our results demonstrate that the critical GABs are region- and modality-specific, generally following a central-to-peripheral and bottom-to-top order of structural development. This study may offer unique insights into the postnatal neurological development associated with differential degrees of preterm birth.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Kentaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Akazawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Kumiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oishi
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Children's and Women's Health, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Skranes
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, HI, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ernst
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. Electronic address: koishi2@jhmi.edu.
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oishi
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000254:growth & development*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000254:growth & development*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male
keywords: Change point analysis; Diffusion MRI; Gestational age at birth; Neonatal brain atlas; Preterm birth; T2 mapping