Microstructural development from 9 to 14 years: Evidence from the ABCD Study

Abstract

During late childhood behavioral changes, such as increased risk-taking and emotional reactivity, have been associated with the maturation of cortico-cortico and cortico-subcortical circuits. Understanding microstructural changes in both white matter and subcortical regions may aid our understanding of how individual differences in these behaviors emerge. Restriction spectrum imaging (RSI) is a framework for modelling diffusion-weighted imaging that decomposes the diffusion signal from a voxel into hindered, restricted, and free compartments. This yields greater specificity than conventional methods of characterizing diffusion. Using RSI, we quantified voxelwise restricted diffusion across the brain and measured age associations in a large sample (n = 8086) from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study aged 9–14 years. Older participants showed a higher restricted signal fraction across the brain, with the largest associations in subcortical regions, particularly the basal ganglia and ventral diencephalon. Importantly, age associations varied with respect to the cytoarchitecture within white matter fiber tracts and subcortical structures, for example age associations differed across thalamic nuclei. This suggests that age-related changes may map onto specific cell populations or circuits and highlights the utility of voxelwise compared to ROI-wise analyses. Future analyses will aim to understand the relevance of this microstructural developmental for behavioral outcomes.

Associations between brain imaging and polygenic scores of mental health and educational attainment in children aged 9-11

“…In this study, we included ROI data from multiple modalities, yet high heterogeneity within ROIs has been reported, particularly within tracts and regions with the strongest age effects (77).…”

“…RSI-Res PC2). Cortico-striatal connectivity appears to greatly develop during adolescence (Palmer et al, 2021), enabling integration between the striatum and the cortex, and possibly subserving cognitive control and value-guided action (Davidow et al, 2018). The relationship of PRS of psychiatric disorders and imaging components were weaker and mostly characterized by null and anecdotal evidence when examined separately for each imaging phenotype.…”

White matter microstructure shows sex differences in late childhood: Evidence from 6,797 children

“…Together, these disparate patterns of findings between late childhood and adulthood suggest sex-specific maturational trajectories during adolescence. Some prior work including adolescent samples has likewise suggested that sex differences may evolve over development (Clayden et al, 2012;Herting et al, 2017;Schmithorst et al, 2008;Seunarine et al, 2016;Simmonds et al, 2014 but see Lebel & Beaulieu, 2011), although sex-specific trajectories may not arise until after early adolescence (Palmer, Pecheva, et al, 2021). Sex differences in maturational trajectories between childhood and adulthood may be driven by pubertal development and the associated changes in sex hormones during adolescence (Crone & Dahl, 2012).…”

“…These models were used as they allow for nested data structures while appropriately modeling non-independent data points, such as participants nested within MRI scanners; linear mixed-effects models have also been used extensively in previously published multi-scanner neuroimaging studies, including prior work in ABCD (e.g., Bohon & Welch, 2021;Hernandez et al, 2022;Pagliaccio, Durham, Fitzgerald, & Marsh, 2021;Palmer, Pecheva, et al, 2021;Palmer, Zhao, et al, 2021;Piccolo et al, 2016;Rapuano et al, 2020). All regressions for the current study were completed in R 3.6.1 using the lme4 package and included the following standard nuisance covariates as fixed effects: age, household income, parental education, race, and ethnicity; MRI scanner was modeled as a random effect in all analyses to adjust for scanner-related variability by modeling the hierarchical structure of our multi-scanner dataset (Bohon & Welch, 2021;Hernandez et al, 2022;Pagliaccio et al, 2021;Palmer, Pecheva, et al, 2021;Palmer, Zhao, et al, 2021;Rapuano et al, 2020). Results were considered significant and replicable if they survived a 5% false discovery rate (FDR) applied across the number of ROIs in the discovery cohort (q<0.05) and demonstrated p<0.05 in the replication cohort (Benjamini & Hochberg, 1995;Hernandez et al, 2022).…”

“…Sex differences in white matter microstructure may evolve during development. (Clayden et al, 2012;Herting et al, 2017;Schmithorst et al, 2008;Seunarine et al, 2016;Simmonds, Hallquist, Asato, & Luna, 2014 but see Krogsrud et al, 2016;Lebel & Beaulieu, 2011;Palmer, Pecheva, et al, 2021). Our analyses specifically focused on a narrow age range in late childhood, such that all participants were between 9 and 10 years old.…”