Growth patterns in the developing brain detected by using continuum mechanical tensor maps

ABSTRACT The dynamic nature of growth and degenerative disease processes requires the design of sensitive strategies to detect, track and quantify structural change in the brain in its full

spatial and temporal complexity1. Although volumes of brain substructures are known to change during development2, detailed maps of these dynamic growth processes have been unavailable. Here

we report the creation of spatially complex, four-dimensional quantitative maps of growth patterns in the developing human brain, detected using a tensor mapping strategy with greater

spatial detail and sensitivity than previously obtainable. By repeatedly scanning children (aged 3–15 years) across time spans of up to four years, a rostro-caudal wave of growth was

detected at the corpus callosum, a fibre system that relays information between brain hemispheres. Peak growth rates, in fibres innervating association and language cortices, were attenuated

after puberty, and contrasted sharply with a severe, spatially localized loss of subcortical grey matter. Conversely, at ages 3–6 years, the fastest growth rates occurred in frontal

networks that regulate the planning of new actions. Local rates, profiles, and principal directions of growth were visualized in each individual child. Access through your institution Buy or

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MULTIFACETED ATLASES OF THE HUMAN BRAIN IN ITS INFANCY Article Open access 30 December 2022 REGIONAL PATTERNS OF HUMAN CORTEX DEVELOPMENT CORRELATE WITH UNDERLYING NEUROBIOLOGY Article Open

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  Google Scholar  Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank E. Sowell, M. Mega and J. Mazziotta for their advice and support. P.M.T. was supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute,

the US Information Agency, and the US–UK Fulbright Commission. Additional research support was provided by a Human Brain Project grant to the International Consortium for Brain Mapping,

funded jointly by NIMH and NIDA, by National Institutes of Health intramural funding (J.N.G.), and by the National Library of Medicine, National Science Foundation, and the NCRR. AUTHOR

INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Department of Neurology, Division of Brain Mapping, Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, UCLA School of Medicine, 710 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, 90095-1769,

California, USA Paul M. Thompson, Roger P. Woods & Arthur W. Toga * Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH, 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, MSC 1600, 20982-1600,

Maryland, USA Jay N. Giedd * Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, 3801 University Street, Montreal , H3A 2B4, Québec, Canada David MacDonald & Alan C. Evans Authors * Paul

M. Thompson View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Jay N. Giedd View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google

Scholar * Roger P. Woods View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * David MacDonald View author publications You can also search for this author

inPubMed Google Scholar * Alan C. Evans View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Arthur W. Toga View author publications You can also search for

this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Arthur W. Toga. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Thompson, P.,

Giedd, J., Woods, R. _et al._ Growth patterns in the developing brain detected by using continuum mechanical tensor maps. _Nature_ 404, 190–193 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35004593

Download citation * Received: 27 August 1999 * Accepted: 21 January 2000 * Issue Date: 09 March 2000 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/35004593 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following

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