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Early childhood development of white matter fiber density and morphology

View ORCID ProfileDennis Dimond, View ORCID ProfileChristiane S. Rohr, Robert E. Smith, View ORCID ProfileThijs Dhollander, Ivy Cho, Catherine Lebel, Deborah Dewey, Alan Connelly, Signe Bray
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/624171
Dennis Dimond
Department of Neuroscience, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaAlberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaChild and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaHotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
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  • For correspondence: dennis.dimond@ucalgary.ca
Christiane S. Rohr
Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaChild and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaHotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
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Robert E. Smith
The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaThe Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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Thijs Dhollander
The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaThe Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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Ivy Cho
Department of Psychological Clinical Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
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Catherine Lebel
Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaChild and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaHotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaOwerko Centre, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaMathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
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Deborah Dewey
Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaHotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaOwerko Centre, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaDepartment of Paediatrics, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaDepartment of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
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Alan Connelly
The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaThe Florey Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
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Signe Bray
Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaChild and Adolescent Imaging Research Program, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaHotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaOwerko Centre, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaMathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, CanadaDepartment of Radiology, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada
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ABSTRACT

Early childhood is an important period for cognitive and brain development, though white matter changes specific to this period remain understudied. Here we utilize a novel analytic approach to quantify and track longitudinal changes in white matter micro- and macro-structure, calculated from individually oriented fiber-bundle populations, termed “fixels”. Fixel-based analysis and mixed-effects models were used to assess tract-wise changes in fiber density and bundle morphology in 73 girls scanned at baseline (ages 4.09-7.02, mean=5.47, SD=0.81), 6-month (N=7), and one-year follow-up (N=42). We also assessed changes in fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD). Maturational increases in fixel-metrics were seen in most major white matter tracts, with the most rapid increases in the corticospinal tract and slowest or non-significant increases in the genu of the corpus callosum and uncinate fasciculus. As expected, we observed developmental increases in FA and decreases in MD, though percentage changes were smaller than fixel-metrics. The majority of tracts showed more substantial morphological than microstructural changes. These findings highlight early childhood as a period of dynamic white matter maturation, characterized by large increases in macroscopic fiber bundle size, mild changes in axonal density, and parallel, albeit less substantial, changes in diffusion tensor metrics.

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Posted May 08, 2019.
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Early childhood development of white matter fiber density and morphology
Dennis Dimond, Christiane S. Rohr, Robert E. Smith, Thijs Dhollander, Ivy Cho, Catherine Lebel, Deborah Dewey, Alan Connelly, Signe Bray
bioRxiv 624171; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/624171
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Early childhood development of white matter fiber density and morphology
Dennis Dimond, Christiane S. Rohr, Robert E. Smith, Thijs Dhollander, Ivy Cho, Catherine Lebel, Deborah Dewey, Alan Connelly, Signe Bray
bioRxiv 624171; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/624171

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