Publication Date:
1999-03-19
Description:
Structural maturation of fiber tracts in the human brain, including an increase in the diameter and myelination of axons, may play a role in cognitive development during childhood and adolescence. A computational analysis of structural magnetic resonance images obtained in 111 children and adolescents revealed age-related increases in white matter density in fiber tracts constituting putative corticospinal and frontotemporal pathways. The maturation of the corticospinal tract was bilateral, whereas that of the frontotemporal pathway was found predominantly in the left (speech-dominant) hemisphere. These findings provide evidence for a gradual maturation, during late childhood and adolescence, of fiber pathways presumably supporting motor and speech functions.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Paus, T -- Zijdenbos, A -- Worsley, K -- Collins, D L -- Blumenthal, J -- Giedd, J N -- Rapoport, J L -- Evans, A C -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 1999 Mar 19;283(5409):1908-11.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, 3801 University Street, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2B4, Canada. tomas@bic.mni.mcgill.ca〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10082463" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Adolescent
;
*Aging
;
Axons/physiology/ultrastructure
;
Brain/anatomy & histology/*growth & development
;
Brain Mapping
;
Child
;
Child, Preschool
;
Female
;
Frontal Lobe/anatomy & histology/growth & development
;
Humans
;
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
;
Male
;
Motor Skills
;
Myelin Sheath/ultrastructure
;
Nerve Fibers/ultrastructure
;
Neural Conduction
;
Neural Pathways/anatomy & histology/*growth & development
;
Regression Analysis
;
Speech
;
Spinal Cord/anatomy & histology
;
Synaptic Transmission
;
Temporal Lobe/anatomy & histology/growth & development
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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