Changes in anatomical brain connectivity between ages 12 and 30: A HARDI study of 467 adolescents and adults
Year: 2012
Type: conference-paper
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Graph theory can be applied to matrices that represent the brain's anatomical connections, to better understand global properties of anatomical networks, such as their clustering, efficiency and "small-world" topology. Network analysis is popular in adult studies of connectivity, but only one study - in just 30 subjects - has examined how network measures change as the brain develops over this period. Here we assessed the developmental trajectory of graph theory metrics of structural brain connectivity in a cross-sectional study of 467 subjects, aged 12 to 30. We computed network measures from 70×70 connectivity matrices of fiber density generated using whole-brain tractography in 4-Tesla 105-gradient high angular resolution diffusion images (HARDI). We assessed global efficiency and modularity, and both age and age(2) effects were identified. HARDI-based connectivity maps are sensitive to the remodeling and refinement of structural brain connections as the human brain develops.
Language: English
Subfield: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Health and Medical Research Council, National Medical Research Council, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Center for Research Resources, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Awards: Genetic influences on the brain: A twin imaging study, Computational Anatomy and Multidimensional Modeling, HARDI Mapping of Disease Effects on the Brain, A Multidimensional Alzheimer's Disease Brain Atlas, Computational Modeling of High-Field MR Images, Training Grant in Neurobehavioral Genetics
OpenAlex ID: W2025406497