Preferential detachment during human brain development: age- and sex-specific structural connectivity in Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) data

Lim, S., Han, C. E., Uhlhaas, P. J. and Kaiser, M. (2015) Preferential detachment during human brain development: age- and sex-specific structural connectivity in Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) data. Cerebral Cortex, 25(6), pp. 1477-1489. (doi: 10.1093/cercor/bht333) (PMID:24343892) (PMCID:PMC4428296)

Abstract

Human brain maturation is characterized by the prolonged development of structural and functional properties of large-scale networks that extends into adulthood. However, it is not clearly understood which features change and which remain stable over time. Here, we examined structural connectivity based on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in 121 participants between 4 and 40 years of age. DTI data were analyzed for small-world parameters, modularity, and the number of fiber tracts at the level of streamlines. First, our findings showed that the number of fiber tracts, small-world topology, and modular organization remained largely stable despite a substantial overall decrease in the number of streamlines with age. Second, this decrease mainly affected fiber tracts that had a large number of streamlines, were short, within modules and within hemispheres; such connections were affected significantly more often than would be expected given their number of occurrences in the network. Third, streamline loss occurred earlier in females than in males. In summary, our findings suggest that core properties of structural brain connectivity, such as the small-world and modular organization, remain stable during brain maturation by focusing streamline loss to specific types of fiber tracts.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Uhlhaas, Professor Peter
• Authors: Lim, S., Han, C. E., Uhlhaas, P. J., and Kaiser, M.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Psychology & Neuroscience
• Journal Name: Cerebral Cortex
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• ISSN: 1047-3211
• ISSN (Online): 1460-2199
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2013 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Cerebral Cortex 25(6):1477-1489
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License