title: The structural connectome in children: basic concepts, how to build it, and synopsis of challenges for the developing pediatric brain.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The structural connectome is a comprehensive structural description of the network of elements and connections forming the brain. In recent years, this framework has progressively been used to investigate the pediatric brain.
  
  
  METHODS
  We discuss the different steps and emphasize key technical aspects required for the successful reconstruction, analysis, and visualization of the pediatric structural connectome using current state-of-the-art neuroimaging and post-processing techniques.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The two key components of structural connectome are a node (a cortical region obtained with high-resolution anatomical imaging) and an edge (structural association between cortical regions, defined with tractography). After delineation of nodes and edges, an association matrix can be generated by compiling all pairwise associations between nodes and applying a threshold to produce a binary adjacency matrix. Several measures can be used to characterize the topological architecture of the brain's networks. Finally, we provide an overview of various visualization methods of the structural connectome in children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The human connectome is the culmination of more than a century of conceptual and methodological innovation. Biological substrates of brain development such as cortical gyration and myelination challenge the acquisition, reconstruction, and analysis of structural connectome in children and require specific considerations compared to adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 501 6th Avenue South, St. Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA. ameoded1@jhmi.edu.
authors.forename: Avner
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meoded
authors.affiliation: Section of Pediatric Neuroradiology, Division of Pediatric Radiology, Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Thierry A G M
authors.initials: TAGM
authors.lastname: Huisman
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins All Children's Institute for Brain Protection Sciences, St. Petersburg, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Maria Grazia Sacco
authors.initials: MGS
authors.lastname: Casamassima
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins All Children's Institute for Brain Protection Sciences, St. Petersburg, FL, USA.
authors.forename: George I
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Jallo
authors.affiliation: Section of Pediatric Neuroradiology, Division of Pediatric Radiology, Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Poretti
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000254:growth & development*; D002648:Child; D063132:Connectome; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D059906:Neuroimaging / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Brain; Children; Diffusion tensor imaging; Structural connectome; Tractography