Year: 2025
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Theoretically derived scaling laws capture the nonlinear relationships between rapidly expanding brain volume and cortical gyrification across mammalian species and in adult humans. However, the preservation of these laws has not been comprehensively assessed in typical or pathological brain development. Here, we assessed the scaling laws governing cortical thickness (CT), surface area (SA), and cortical folding in the neonatal brain. We also assessed multivariate morphological terms that capture brain size, shape, and folding processes. The sample consisted of 345 typically developing infants, 73 preterm infants, and 107 infants with congenital heart disease (CHD) who underwent brain MRI. Our results show that typically developing neonates and those with CHD follow the cortical folding scaling law obtained from mammalian brains, children, and adults which captures the relationship between exposed SA, total SA, and CT. Cortical folding scaling was not affected by gestational age at birth, postmenstrual age at scan, sex, or multiple birth in these populations. CHD was characterized by a unique reduction in the multivariate morphological term capturing size, suggesting that CHD affects cortical growth overall but not cortical folding processes. In contrast, preterm birth was characterized by altered cortical folding scaling and altered shape, suggesting that the developmentally programmed processes of cortical folding are disrupted in this population. The degree of altered shape was associated with cognitive abilities in early childhood in preterm infants.
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Funders: Wellcome Trust, UK Research and Innovation, Action Medical Research, National Institute for Health and Care Research, British Heart Foundation, King's College London, European Commission, Medical Research Council Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Medical Research Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Centre For Medical Engineering, King’s College London, FP7 Ideas: European Research Council
Awards: G1054121244, G1093531541, G1114913786, The relation of cerebral oxygen delivery to brain dysmaturation and damage in infants with congenital heart disease, G1211483440, G1247657515, G1271318647, G1307489074, King's College London Medical Engineering Centre of Research Excellence, G1488849380, Neurodevelopment from the fetus to childhood in individuals with congenital heart disease, Exploration of cortical structure and function in human infancy with advanced MRI methods, G2417159676, G3034101409, G3245869768, G339059223, MRC Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, G3787144819, New Synthetic Approaches to Prepare Functionalized GAG Oligosaccharides as Basic Tools in Glycomics, G393177772, G4747079930, In vivo microstructural neuroimaging in infants at risk of developing neurocognitive delay or neurobehavioural disorders, Imaging Focal Epilepsy in Children: A Developmental Perspective, G5296857752, G5537678747, G5567345641, MRC Transition Support Award CSF Tomoki Arichi, G5797911231, King's College London Medical Engineering Centre of Research Excellence, G5924411044, G6591802155, G6692660854, G6733629873, G689479081, G7330404770, G8048453011, G8303168876, G8775246936, G938335843, G961285871
OpenAlex ID: W4409263199