White Matter Development During Childhood and Adolescence: A Cross-sectional Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study

TLDR

Maturation of brain white matter pathways is a key factor in cognitive, behavioral, emotional and motor development during childhood and adolescence, and this typical developmental trajectory may be altered in individuals with developmental, cognitive and behavioral disorders. In this study, we investigate white matter maturation as reflected by changes in anisotropy and white matter density with age. Thirty‑four children and adolescents aged 6‑19 underwent diffusion‑weighted MRI, and 30 also had high‑resolution T1 scans; voxel‑wise linear regression of fractional anisotropy with age was performed, followed by post‑hoc density analyses in regions showing significant FA changes. FA increased with age in prefrontal, internal capsule, basal ganglia, thalamic, ventral visual pathways and the corpus callosum, with the posterior limb of the internal capsule, intrathalamic connections and corpus callosum showing the strongest overlap with density changes, indicating that white matter anisotropy evolves in regions critical for attention, motor skills, cognition and memory during childhood and adolescence.

Abstract

Maturation of brain white matter pathways is an important factor in cognitive, behavioral, emotional and motor development during childhood and adolescence. In this study, we investigate white matter maturation as reflected by changes in anisotropy and white matter density with age. Thirty-four children and adolescents aged 6-19 years received diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging scans. Among these, 30 children and adolescents also received high-resolution T1-weighed anatomical scans. A linear regression model was used to correlate fractional anisotropy (FA) values with age on a voxel-by-voxel basis. Within the regions that showed significant FA changes with age, a post hoc analysis was performed to investigate white matter density changes. With increasing age, FA values increased in prefrontal regions, in the internal capsule as well as in basal ganglia and thalamic pathways, the ventral visual pathways, and the corpus callosum. The posterior limb of the internal capsule, intrathalamic connections, and the corpus callosum showed the most significant overlaps between white matter density and FA changes with age. This study demonstrates that during childhood and adolescence, white matter anisotropy changes in brain regions that are important for attention, motor skills, cognitive ability, and memory. This typical developmental trajectory may be altered in individuals with disorders of development, cognition and behavior.