Diffusion Tensor Tractography of the Cerebellar Peduncles in Prematurely Born 7-Year-Old Children

Abstract

The objective of this study was to correlate neurodevelopmental outcome of preterm-born children and their perinatal clinical and imaging characteristics with diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of the three cerebellar peduncles at age 7. Included in this prospective longitudinal study were 140 preterm born children (< 30 weeks’ gestation) who underwent neurodevelopmental assessment (IQ, motor, language, working memory) and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) at age 7 years. White matter tracts in the superior, middle, and inferior cerebellar peduncles were delineated using regions of interest drawn on T2-weighted images and fractional anisotropy (FA) maps. Diffusion measures (mean diffusivity (MD) and FA) and tract volumes were calculated. Linear regression was used to assess relationships with outcome. The severity of white matter injury in the neonatal period was associated with lower FA in the right superior cerebellar peduncle (SCP) and lower tract volumes of both SCPs and middle cerebellar peduncles (MCPs). In the MCP, higher IQ was associated with lower MD in the whole group and higher FA in right-handed children. In the SCP lower motor scores were associated with higher MD and higher language scores were associated with higher FA. These associations remained significant in multivariable models. This study adds to the body of literature detailing the importance of cerebellar involvement in cognitive function related to reciprocal connections with supratentorial structures.

Fine Motor Skill Mediates Visual Memory Ability with Microstructural Neuro-correlates in Cerebellar Peduncles in Prematurely Born Adolescents

“…Our data come in the midst of a shift in understanding of the cerebellum's role in brain function and behavior ( Buckner Randy 2013 ). The cerebellum has conventionally been associated with coordination of motor function, but more recently has been implicated in language pathways ( Constable et al 2013 ; Shany et al 2016 ), cognition ( Allin et al 2001 ; Ravizza et al 2006 ; Rosenberg et al 2016 ; Shany et al 2016 ), and spatial processing ( Stoodley 2012 ). For the first time, our results show that the cerebellum may also play a role in visual memory, if only in a specific clinical population.…”

“…While several studies show deficits in PT or very low birthweight adolescents and young adults compared with terms in gross and fine motor dexterity ( Husby et al 2013 ), cognition ( Allin et al 2008 ; Breeman et al 2015 ), and visual memory, with delayed visual memory being especially problematic ( Molloy et al 2014 ), others demonstrate that cerebellar injury adversely affects neurodevelopmental outcomes in this population ( Limperopoulos et al 2014 ; Brossard-Racine et al 2015 ). A single study addresses white matter microstructure of the cerebellar peduncles and outcome in the prematurely born ( Shany et al 2016 ). While other studies establish the presence of impairment in PT adolescents, this study is able to parse the contribution of possible neonatal brain injury to these deficits by including only PT with no evidence of brain injury.…”

Test–retest reproducibility of white matter parcellation using diffusion MRI tractography fiber clustering

“…White matter parcellation can enable the study of fiber parcels from the entire white matter to identify between‐population differences (e.g., between patients harboring disease and healthy subjects) using machine learning or statistical analyses (Ingalhalikar et al, ; Sporns, Tononi, & Kötter, ; Zalesky, Cocchi, Fornito, Murray, & Bullmore, ; Zhang, Savadjiev, et al, ; Zhang, Wu, Ning, ). White matter parcellation is also important for identifying anatomical fiber tracts for clinical visualization (Golby et al, ; Gong et al, ; Nimsky, Ganslandt, Dorit, Gregory Sorensen, & Fahlbusch, ; O'Donnell et al, ) or hypothesis‐driven research (Alexander et al, ; Shany et al, ; Wu et al, , ; Yeo, Jang, & Son, ). Automated and robust white matter parcellation can enable the analysis of new, large dMRI datasets that are being acquired to study complex neural systems across the lifespan and across brain disorders (Alexander et al, ; Casey et al, ; Thompson et al, ).…”

Microstructural abnormalities found in uncinate fasciculus and superior cerebellar tracts in children with global developmental delay: a feasibility study

“…20 In children who were born prematurely, lower motor scores were associated with higher MD and lower language scores were associated with lower FA in the SCP. 21 Other DTI studies of children with GDD have yielded varying results. Filippi et al reported decreased anisotropy in six white matter fibre tracts, namely the centrum semiovale, corona radiata, anterior and posterior limbs of the internal capsule, parietooccipital and frontaletemporal subcortical white matter regions, and genu and splenium of the corpus callosum.…”