Charting shared developmental trajectories of cortical thickness and structural connectivity in childhood and adolescence

Abstract

The cortex is organised into broadly hierarchical functional systems with distinct neuroanatomical characteristics reflected by macroscopic measures of cortical morphology. Diffusion-weighted MRI allows the delineation of areal connectivity, changes to which reflect the ongoing maturation of white matter tracts. These developmental processes are intrinsically linked with timing coincident with the development of cognitive function.In this study, we use a data-driven multivariate approach, non-negative matrix factorisation, to define cortical regions that co-vary together across a large paediatric cohort (n=456) and are associated with specific subnetworks of cortical connectivity.We find that age between 3 and 21 years is associated with accelerated cortical thinning in fronto-parietal regions, whereas relative thinning of primary motor and sensory regions is slower. Together, the subjectspecific weights of the derived set of components can be combined to predict chronological age. Structural connectivity networks reveal a relative increase in strength in connection within, as opposed to between hemispheres that vary in line with cortical changes. We confirm our findings in an independent sample.

Individualized prediction of future cognition using baseline developmental changes in cortical anatomy

“…Our findings can be interpreted in the light of previous trajectory-based studies (28,(43)(44)(45)(46)(47)(48). Brain development comprises of sequence of events that continuously shape the structure and function of the brain (49)(50)(51)(52)(53)(54)(55)(56). More importantly, trajectories of brain development have been shown to be critical for cognitive maturation (28,43,57), with deviations in normative trajectories linked with neurodevelopmental disorders (45,58,59).…”

The development of structural covariance networks during the transition from childhood to adolescence

“…These results are consistent with prior literature that has highlighted the prominence of hubs within association cortices during adolescence 19 , although this has been limited to parietal regions in some studies 20 . Findings are also supported by regional variability in group-level trajectories, with frontal, parietal and temporal cortices exhibiting greater changes than occipital and motor cortices in adolescents 55,56 www.nature.com/scientificreports/ and exhibiting later maturation in macaques 57 . Moreover, increasing covariance was mostly limited to regions that support abstract higher-order cognitive skills that continue to mature during adolescence 58 .…”

Distinct influence of parental occupation on cortical thickness and surface area in children and adolescents: Relation to self‐esteem

“…Given that typical brain development involves intricate processes with regionally specific nonlinear trajectories (Ball, Beare, & Seal, 2019; Giedd et al, 1999; Gogtay et al, 2004; Mills et al, 2016; Shaw et al, 2008; Tamnes et al, 2017) and that SES is a complex, multifactorial phenomenon likely to have differential effects at different time points, it is possible that the brain‐SES relation may vary nonlinearly with age. Indeed, few studies have started reporting such interactions.…”