Quantitative Diffusion Tensor Tractography of Association and Projection Fibers in Normally Developing Children and Adolescents

Eluvathingal, Thomas J.; Hasan, Khader M.; Kramer, Larry A.; Fletcher, Jack Μ.; Ewing‐Cobbs, Linda

doi:10.1093/cercor/bhm003

Cited by 272 publications

(278 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…[23,24] A recent study of right-handed children using diffusion MR tractography indeed showed a significant left>right asymmetry of FA values the cortico-spinal tract [25] with an average asymmetry of less than 3%. In our patient group with equal representation with right and left hemispheric involvement, we did not find any significant difference between these two subgroups in hemispheric asymmetries.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

The corticospinal tract in Sturge–Weber syndrome: A diffusion tensor tractography study

Sivaswamy¹,

Rajamani²,

Juhász³

et al. 2008

Brain and Development

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OBJECTIVE-To utilize diffusion tensor tractography and evaluate the integrity of the corticospinal tract in children with unilateral Sturge-Weber syndrome (SWS).METHODS-Sixteen children (age: 1.5-12.3 years) with SWS involving one hemisphere and varying degrees of motor deficit, underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as part of a prospective clinical research study. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was obtained and fiber tracking of the corticospinal tract was performed yielding average FA and ADC values along the pathway. These values were compared between the two hemispheres (affected vs. unaffected) and also correlated with the degree of motor deficits, after correction for age.RESULTS-Cortico-spinal tract FA values on the side of the affected hemisphere were lower (p=0.008) and ADC values were higher (p=0.011) compared to the normal side. Furthermore, FA and ADC values on the side of the angioma did not show the normal age-related variations, which the contralateral corticospinal pathway values did demonstrate. Although none of the patients had severe hemipares, those with moderate motor deficit had increased ADC values, as compared to those with mild (p= 0.009) or no motor deficit (p= 0.045).CONCLUSION-MRI with DTI shows abnormalities of the corticospinal tract in children with SWS even before severe motor impairment develops. Thus, DTI can be a clinically useful method to evaluate the integrity of the corticospinal tract in young children who are at risk for progressive motor dysfunction.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

The corticospinal tract in Sturge–Weber syndrome: A diffusion tensor tractography study

Sivaswamy¹,

Rajamani²,

Juhász³

et al. 2008

Brain and Development

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“…First, we addressed the question whether the associations between 5-choice RT and microstructure within the CSTs and neostriatum were anatomically specific, i.e., the extent to which 5-choice RT exhibited a relatively specific relationship to MD in these regions relative to others. This is an important question, since MD decreases concurrently in many brain regions during childhood and adolescence (Eluvathingal et al, 2007;Lebel et al, 2008). The relationship between 5-choice RT of CST and neostriatal MD remained significant when including, respectively, whole skeleton MD or nAcc/ amygdalar MD as covariates in the models.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Activation of the direct pathway is mediated by cortical inputs from the motor cortices to the neostriatum, which sends inhibitory signals to the internal segment of globus pallidus. This reduces the inhibitory tone on the thalamus, Studies applying DWI in children and adolescents have reported age-related increases in FA and/or decreases in MD in multiple locations within white matter, possibly due to ongoing myelination and/or an increase in axonal diameter or density (Eluvathingal et al, 2007;Lebel et al, 2008;Snook et al, 2005). Further, age-related increases in FA and decreases in MD have also been reported in several subcortical grey matter structures (Lebel et al, 2008;Snook et al, 2005), but the underlying neural changes causing this are largely unknown.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brain microstructural correlates of visuospatial choice reaction time in children

et al. 2011

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The corticospinal tracts and the basal ganglia continue to develop during childhood and adolescence, and indices of their maturation can be obtained using diffusion-weighted imaging. Here we show that a simple measure of visuomotor function is correlated with diffusion parameters in the corticospinal tracts and neostriatum. In a cohort of 75 typically-developing children aged 7 to 13 years, mean 5-choice reaction times (RTs) were assessed. We hypothesised that children with faster choice RTs would show lower mean diffusivity (MD) in the corticospinal tracts and neostriatum and higher fractional anisotropy (FA) in the corticospinal tracts, after controlling for age, gender, and handedness. Mean MD and/or FA were extracted from the right and left corticospinal tracts, putamen, and caudate nuclei. As predicted, faster 5-choice RTs were associated with lower MD in the corticospinal tracts, putamen, and caudate. MD effects on RT were bilateral in the corticospinal tracts and putamen, whilst right caudate MD was more strongly related to performance than was left caudate MD. Our results suggest a link between motor performance variability in children and diffusivity in the motor system, which may be related to: individual differences in the phase of fibre tract and neostriatal maturation in children of similar age, individual differences in motor experience during childhood (i.e., use-dependent plasticity), and/or more stable individual differences in the architecture of the motor system.

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“…Mean FA, mean ADC, number of streamlines (tract‐count) (e.g., Catani & Thiebaut de Schotten, 2008; Thiebaut de Schotten et al., 2011), mean streamline length (tract‐length) (e.g., Baker et al., 2016; Cohen et al., 2016), and total volume of all streamlines within a tract (tract‐volume) (e.g., Büchel et al., 2004; Eluvathingal, Hasan, Kramer, Fletcher, & Ewing‐Cobbs, 2007; Kulikova et al., 2014; Liu et al., 2010; Takao et al., 2011) corresponding to each cerebellar peduncle pathway (SCP, MCP cog , MCP mot , and ICP) were quantified in each subject. Left and right hemispheric values for each quantity (tract‐count, tract‐volume, mean tract‐length, mean FA, and mean ADC) in each pathway (SCP, MCP cog , MCP mot , and ICP) were compared to check for asymmetry using the Laterality Index (LI) where LI = (ValueOnLeft – ValueOnRight)/(ValueOnLeft + ValueOnRight).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High‐angular resolution diffusion imaging tractography of cerebellar pathways from newborns to young adults

Levman

Lim

et al. 2016

Brain and Behavior

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IntroductionMany neurologic and psychiatric disorders are thought to be due to, or result in, developmental errors in neuronal cerebellar connectivity. In this connectivity analysis, we studied the developmental time‐course of cerebellar peduncle pathways in pediatric and young adult subjects.MethodsA cohort of 80 subjects, newborns to young adults, was studied on a 3T MR system with 30 diffusion‐weighted measurements with high‐angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) tractography.ResultsQualitative and quantitative results were analyzed for age‐based variation. In subjects of all ages, the superior cerebellar peduncle pathway (SCP) and two distinct subpathways of the middle cerebellar peduncle (MCP), as described in previous ex vivo studies, were identified in vivo with this technique: pathways between the rostral pons and inferior‐lateral cerebellum (MCP cog), associated predominantly with higher cognitive function, and pathways between the caudal pons and superior‐medial cerebellum (MCP mot), associated predominantly with motor function.DiscussionOur findings showed that the inferior cerebellar peduncle pathway (ICP), involved primarily in proprioception and balance appears to have a later onset followed by more rapid development than that exhibited in other tracts. We hope that this study may provide an initial point of reference for future studies of normal and pathologic development of cerebellar connectivity.

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Quantitative Diffusion Tensor Tractography of Association and Projection Fibers in Normally Developing Children and Adolescents

Cited by 272 publications

References 77 publications

The corticospinal tract in Sturge–Weber syndrome: A diffusion tensor tractography study

The corticospinal tract in Sturge–Weber syndrome: A diffusion tensor tractography study

Brain microstructural correlates of visuospatial choice reaction time in children

High‐angular resolution diffusion imaging tractography of cerebellar pathways from newborns to young adults

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