Changes in anatomical brain connectivity between ages 12 and 30: A HARDI study of 467 adolescents and adults

Author

Dennis, Emily L. ; Jahanshad, Neda ; Toga, Arthur W. ; Johnson, Kori ; McMahon, Katie L. ; De Zubicaray, Greig I. ; Martin, Nicholas G. ; Hickie, Ian B. ; Wright, Margaret J. ; Thompson, Paul M.

Author_Institution

Sch. of Med., UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

fYear

2012

fDate

2-5 May 2012

Firstpage

904

Lastpage

907

Abstract

Graph theory can be applied to matrices that represent the brain´s anatomical connections, to better understand global properties of anatomical networks, such as their clustering, efficiency and “small-world” topology. Network analysis is popular in adult studies of connectivity, but only one study - in just 30 subjects - has examined how network measures change as the brain develops over this period. Here we assessed the developmental trajectory of graph theory metrics of structural brain connectivity in a cross-sectional study of 467 subjects, aged 12 to 30. We computed network measures from 70×70 connectivity matrices of fiber density generated using whole-brain tractography in 4-Tesla 105-gradient high angular resolution diffusion images (HARDI). We assessed global efficiency and modularity, and both age and age² effects were identified. HARDI-based connectivity maps are sensitive to the remodeling and refinement of structural brain connections as the human brain develops.

Keywords

biomedical MRI; brain; graph theory; network analysis; neural nets; paediatrics; HARDI study; adolescents; adults; anatomical brain connectivity; anatomical networks; connectivity map; developmental trajectory; fiber density; graph theory metrics; high angular resolution diffusion images; magnetic flux density 4 T; network analysis; network clustering; small-world topology; structural brain connectivity; whole-brain tractography; Brain modeling; Graph theory; Magnetic resonance imaging; Measurement; Optical fiber networks; Optical fiber theory; development; graph theory; high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI); network analyses; structural connectivity; tractography;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Biomedical Imaging (ISBI), 2012 9th IEEE International Symposium on

Conference_Location

Barcelona

ISSN

1945-7928

Print_ISBN

978-1-4577-1857-1

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/ISBI.2012.6235695

Filename

6235695