Global and regional cortical connectivity maturation index (CCMI) of developmental human brain with quantification of short-range association tracts

Minhui Ouyang; Tina Jeon; Virendra Mishra; Haixiao Du; Yu Wang; Yun Peng; Hao Huang

doi:10.1117/12.2218029

29 March 2016 Global and regional cortical connectivity maturation index (CCMI) of developmental human brain with quantification of short-range association tracts

Minhui Ouyang, Tina Jeon, Virendra Mishra, Haixiao Du, Yu Wang, Yun Peng, Hao Huang

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9788, Medical Imaging 2016: Biomedical Applications in Molecular, Structural, and Functional Imaging; 97881B (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2218029
Event: SPIE Medical Imaging, 2016, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

From early childhood to adulthood, synaptogenesis and synaptic pruning continuously reshape the structural architecture and neural connection in developmental human brains. Disturbance of the precisely balanced strengthening of certain axons and pruning of others may cause mental disorders such as autism and schizophrenia. To characterize this balance, we proposed a novel measurement based on cortical parcellation and diffusion MRI (dMRI) tractography, a cortical connectivity maturation index (CCMI). To evaluate the spatiotemporal sensitivity of CCMI as a potential biomarker, dMRI and T₁ weighted datasets of 21 healthy subjects 2-25 years were acquired. Brain cortex was parcellated into 68 gyral labels using T₁ weighted images, then transformed into dMRI space to serve as the seed region of interest for dMRI-based tractography. Cortico-cortical association fibers initiated from each gyrus were categorized into long- and short-range ones, based on the other end of fiber terminating in non-adjacent or adjacent gyri of the seed gyrus, respectively. The regional CCMI was defined as the ratio between number of short-range association tracts and that of all association tracts traced from one of 68 parcellated gyri. The developmental trajectory of the whole brain CCMI follows a quadratic model with initial decreases from 2 to 16 years followed by later increases after 16 years. Regional CCMI is heterogeneous among different cortical gyri with CCMI dropping to the lowest value earlier in primary somatosensory cortex and visual cortex while later in the prefrontal cortex. The proposed CCMI may serve as sensitive biomarker for brain development under normal or pathological conditions.

Citation Download Citation

Minhui Ouyang, Tina Jeon, Virendra Mishra, Haixiao Du, Yu Wang, Yun Peng, and Hao Huang "Global and regional cortical connectivity maturation index (CCMI) of developmental human brain with quantification of short-range association tracts", Proc. SPIE 9788, Medical Imaging 2016: Biomedical Applications in Molecular, Structural, and Functional Imaging, 97881B (29 March 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2218029

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