Work

Apparent thinning of human visual cortex during childhood is associated with myelination

Year: 2019

Type: article

Study design: Observational Study

Abstract: Microstructural mechanisms underlying apparent cortical thinning during childhood development are unknown. Using functional, quantitative, and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging in children and adults, we tested if tissue growth (lower T1 relaxation time and mean diffusivity (MD)) or pruning (higher T1 and MD) underlies cortical thinning in ventral temporal cortex (VTC). After age 5, T 1 and MD decreased in mid and deep cortex of functionally-defined regions in lateral VTC, and in their adjacent white matter. T1 and MD decreases were (i) consistent with tissue growth related to myelin proliferation, which we verified with adult postmortem histology and (ii) correlated with apparent cortical thinning. Thus, contrary to prevailing theories, cortical tissue does not thin during childhood, it becomes more myelinated, shifting the gray-white matter boundary deeper into cortex. As tissue growth is prominent in regions with protracted functional development, our data suggest an intriguing hypothesis that functional development and myelination are interlinked.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1904931116

Authors: Vaidehi S. Natu, Jesse Gomez, Michael Barnett, Brianna Jeska, Evgeniya Kirilina, Carsten Jaeger, Zonglei Zhen, Siobhan Cox, Kevin S. Weiner, Nikolaus Weiskopf, Kalanit Grill-Spector

Institutions: The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Stanford University, Stanford Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Freie Universität Berlin, University of California, Berkeley

Language: English

Topic: Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications

Subfield: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: European Commission, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, National Institutes of Health, National Eye Institute, FP7 Ideas: European Research Council

Awards: Development of Face Perception: Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Investigations, G2973790809, G3207356259, Vision Research Training Program, G3922018840, G393177772, G408536097, Development of Macromolecular Tissue in Visual Cortex and its Role in Neural Function and Behavior, NEURON-Verbund hMRIofSCI: Entschlüsselung der pathophysiologischen Prozesse induziert durch eine Querschnittlähmung: Anwendung von MRT basierter in vivo und ex vivo Histologie, G5702163051, Non-Invasive In-Vivo Histology in Health and Disease Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Functional-neuroanatomy of high-level visual cortex: a quantitative multimodal approach

OpenAlex ID: W2976878096

FWCI: 27.23

Cites: 88

Cited by: 339

Related to: 10