TY - JOUR
T1 - Differential cortical microstructural maturation in the preterm human brain with diffusion kurtosis and tensor imaging
AU - Ouyang, Minhui
AU - Jeon, Tina
AU - Sotiras, Aristeidis
AU - Peng, Qinmu
AU - Mishra, Virendra
AU - Halovanic, Cathy
AU - Chen, Min
AU - Chalak, Lina
AU - Rollins, Nancy
AU - Roberts, Timothy P.L.
AU - Davatzikos, Christos
AU - Huang, Hao
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 National Academy of Sciences. All Rights Reserved.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - During the third trimester, the human brain undergoes rapid cellular and molecular processes that reshape the structural architecture of the cerebral cortex. Knowledge of cortical differentiation obtained predominantly from histological studies is limited in localized and small cortical regions. How cortical microstructure is differentiated across cortical regions in this critical period is unknown. In this study, the cortical microstructural architecture across the entire cortex was delineated with non-Gaussian diffusion kurtosis imaging as well as conventional diffusion tensor imaging of 89 preterm neonates aged 31–42 postmenstrual weeks. The temporal changes of cortical mean kurtosis (MK) or fractional anisotropy (FA) were heterogeneous across the cortical regions. Cortical MK decreases were observed throughout the studied age period, while cortical FA decrease reached its plateau around 37 weeks. More rapid decreases in MK were found in the primary visual region, while faster FA declines were observed in the prefrontal cortex. We found that distinctive cortical microstructural changes were coupled with microstructural maturation of associated white matter tracts. Both cortical MK and FA measurements predicted the postmenstrual age of preterm infants accurately. This study revealed a differential 4D spatiotemporal cytoarchitectural signature inferred by non-Gaussian diffusion barriers inside the cortical plate during the third trimester. The cytoarchitectural processes, including dendritic arborization and neuronal density decreases, were inferred by regional cortical FA and MK measurements. The presented findings suggest that cortical MK and FA measurements could be used as effective imaging markers for cortical microstructural changes in typical and potentially atypical brain development.
AB - During the third trimester, the human brain undergoes rapid cellular and molecular processes that reshape the structural architecture of the cerebral cortex. Knowledge of cortical differentiation obtained predominantly from histological studies is limited in localized and small cortical regions. How cortical microstructure is differentiated across cortical regions in this critical period is unknown. In this study, the cortical microstructural architecture across the entire cortex was delineated with non-Gaussian diffusion kurtosis imaging as well as conventional diffusion tensor imaging of 89 preterm neonates aged 31–42 postmenstrual weeks. The temporal changes of cortical mean kurtosis (MK) or fractional anisotropy (FA) were heterogeneous across the cortical regions. Cortical MK decreases were observed throughout the studied age period, while cortical FA decrease reached its plateau around 37 weeks. More rapid decreases in MK were found in the primary visual region, while faster FA declines were observed in the prefrontal cortex. We found that distinctive cortical microstructural changes were coupled with microstructural maturation of associated white matter tracts. Both cortical MK and FA measurements predicted the postmenstrual age of preterm infants accurately. This study revealed a differential 4D spatiotemporal cytoarchitectural signature inferred by non-Gaussian diffusion barriers inside the cortical plate during the third trimester. The cytoarchitectural processes, including dendritic arborization and neuronal density decreases, were inferred by regional cortical FA and MK measurements. The presented findings suggest that cortical MK and FA measurements could be used as effective imaging markers for cortical microstructural changes in typical and potentially atypical brain development.
KW - Brain development
KW - Cortical microstructure
KW - DK
KW - Differentiation
KW - Maturation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85062676445&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1812156116
DO - 10.1073/pnas.1812156116
M3 - Article
C2 - 30782802
AN - SCOPUS:85062676445
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 116
SP - 4681
EP - 4688
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 10
ER -