Meeting Banner
Abstract #0800

Coherent Cortical Pruning and Axonal Integrity Enhancement During Brain Development Accessed by DTI Tractography from Parcellated Cortex

Tina Jeon1, Virendra Mishra1, Hao Huang1

1Advanced Imaging Research Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States

Cortical thinning during brain development is due to complicated cellular and molecular processes including synaptic pruning, apoptosis and cell shrinkage during development. In parallel, association and commissural white matter tracts project from a group of selected and preserved neurons and connect certain cortical regions. These parallel processes are essential for the formation of the brain circuits which enable certain brain functions, especially those related to mental disorders. In this study, we investigated the relationship of the change of fractional anisotropy of these axons and change of the corresponding cortical thickness with DTI and T1-weighted images from 39 normal children.

Keywords

accessed acquisition added addition adolescents association audience autism axis axons binary blue body boundary brain brains categorized cell cellular certain children circuits clear coherence coherent colors computing corpus correlating correlation cortex cortical decline decrease dependent derived developing development disorders disruption dorsal dots enable encoded enhancement especially examined example excessive female fibers findings formation fractional frontal functions green guidance hemisphere heterogeneous highly identical identification importantly indicated individual inspecting institutions insufficient integrity interaction investigated known label labels largest literature longitudinal male mantle mask mechanisms median mental mild molecular neuron opens orbital overlaid overlapping parallel part pathways patterns physicists pink place plots poorly preserved processes project projected protocol pruning psychiatry recruited reflected regional related relationship reproducibility resolution respectively scanners scatter schizophrenia science selected sense sequentially sharp sharpest shaw significantly slope slopes slowest southwestern speculate sponsored strong subjects suggested suggesting superior surface surfaces synaptic target thicknesses thinning traced tracts underlying understanding visualization white years yellow