Summary: A new study reports white matter structure can predict an infant’s cognitive abilities and functions at the ages of 1 and 2.
Source: UNC.
This kind of new brain imaging study could help identify cognitive problems and psychiatric disorders very early and develop appropriate interventions.
A new study led by UNC School of Medicine researchers concluded that patterns of white matter microstructure present at birth and that develop after birth predict the cognitive function of children at ages 1 and 2.
“To our knowledge, this study is the first to measure and describe the development of white matter microstructure in children and its relationship to cognitive development from the time they are born until the age of 2 years,” said John H. Gilmore, MD, senior author of the study and director of the Early Brain Development Program in the UNC Department of Psychiatry.
The study was published online on December 19, 2016 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
White matter is the tissue in the brain that contains axon fibers, which connect neurons in one brain region to neurons in another region. White matter is critical for normal brain function, and little is known about how white matter develops in humans or how it is related to growth of cognitive skills in early childhood, including language development. In the study, a total of 685 children received diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scans of their brains. DTI is a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that provides a description of the diffusion of water through tissue, and can be used to identify white matter tracts in the brain and describe the organization and maturation of the tracts.
The study authors used these brain scans to investigate the microstructure of 12 white matter fiber tracts important for cognitive function, their relationship to developing cognitive function and their heritability. They found all 12 of the fiber tracts in the newborns were highly related to each other. By age 1, these fiber tracts had begun to differentiate themselves from each other, and by age 2 this differentiation was further advanced. The most interesting finding from the study was that the common relationship between white matter tracts at birth predicted overall cognitive development at age 1 and language development at age 2, indicating that it may be possible to use brain imaging at birth to better understand how a child’s cognitive development will proceed in the first years after birth.
Because the sample included 429 twins, the study authors were also able to calculate that this predictive trait was moderately heritable, suggesting that genetics may be a factor in its development.
“There is rapid growth of brain structure, cognition and behavior in early childhood, and we are just starting to understand how they are related,” Gilmore said “With a better understanding of these relationships, we ultimately hope to be able to identify children at risk for cognitive problems or psychiatric disorders very early and come up with interventions that can help the brain develop in a way to improve function and reduce risk.”
In addition to Gilmore, authors of the study are Seung Jae Lee, Rachel J. Steiner, Yang Yu, Sarah J. Short, Michael C. Neale, Martin Styner, and Hongtu Zhu. All are at UNC except for Neale, who is in the Virginia Institute of Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Funding: This study was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH064065, MH 070890, RR025747 and MH086633), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD053000) and the National Science Foundation (SES-1357666).
Source: Tom Hughes – UNC
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.
Original Research: Abstract for “Common and heritable components of white matter microstructure predict cognitive function at 1 and 2 y” by Seung Jae Lee, Rachel J. Steiner, Yang Yu, Sarah J. Short, Michael C. Neale, Martin Andreas Styner, Hongtu Zhu, and John H. Gilmore in PNAS. Published online December 19 2016 doi:10.1073/pnas.1604658114
[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]UNC “White Matter Structure in Brain Predicts Cognitive Function at Ages 1 and 2.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 20 December 2016.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/cognition-infant-white-matter-5786/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]UNC (2016, December 20). White Matter Structure in Brain Predicts Cognitive Function at Ages 1 and 2. NeuroscienceNew. Retrieved December 20, 2016 from https://neurosciencenews.com/cognition-infant-white-matter-5786/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]UNC “White Matter Structure in Brain Predicts Cognitive Function at Ages 1 and 2.” https://neurosciencenews.com/cognition-infant-white-matter-5786/ (accessed December 20, 2016).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]
Abstract
Common and heritable components of white matter microstructure predict cognitive function at 1 and 2 y
Previous studies indicate that the microstructure of individual white matter (WM) tracts is related to cognitive function. More recent studies indicate that the microstructure of individual tracts is highly correlated and that a property common across WM is related to overall cognitive function in adults. However, little is known about whether these common WM properties exist in early childhood development or how they are related to cognitive development. In this study, we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to investigate common underlying factors in 12 fiber tracts, their relationship with cognitive function, and their heritability in a longitudinal sample of healthy children at birth (n = 535), 1 y (n = 322), and 2 y (n = 244) of age. Our data show that, in neonates, there is a highly significant correlation between major WM tracts that decreases from birth to 2 y of age. Over the same period, the factor structure increases in complexity, from one factor at birth to three factors at age 2 y, which explain 50% of variance. The identified common factors of DTI metrics in each age group are significantly correlated with general cognitive scores and predict cognitive ability in later childhood. These factors are moderately heritable. These findings illustrate the anatomical differentiation of WM fiber from birth to 2 y of age that correlate with cognitive development. Our results also suggest that the common factor approach is an informative way to study WM development and its relationship with cognition and is a useful approach for future imaging genetic studies.
“Common and heritable components of white matter microstructure predict cognitive function at 1 and 2 y” by Seung Jae Lee, Rachel J. Steiner, Yang Yu, Sarah J. Short, Michael C. Neale, Martin Andreas Styner, Hongtu Zhu, and John H. Gilmore in PNAS. Published online December 19 2016 doi:10.1073/pnas.1604658114
