Qiang Zheng, Minhui Ouyang, Juan Sebastian Martin-Saavedra, Sandra Saade-Lemus, Qinlin Yu, Raymond Wang Sze, John Flibotte, John Detre, Hao Huang, Misun Hwang

Brain perfusion plays an important role in the diagnosis and prognosis of neonatal hypoxic ischemic injury (HII). However, the studies on perfusion changes in HII neonates with negative reading in conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (HII-) are rarely reported. Here, we used arterial-spin-labeled perfusion MRI to compare cerebral blood flow among health controls, HII neonates with positive reading of conventional MRI images (HII+) and HII- neonates. The results demonstrate that perfusion is altered in HII neonates even with negative reading of conventional MRI images, suggesting importance of inclusion of perfusion MRI for evaluating HII in clinical practice and research. 

Joana Sa de Almeida, Lara Lordier, Benjamin Zollinger, Nicolas Kunz, Matteo Bastiani, Laura Gui, François Lazeyras, Petra Hüppi

Prematurity disrupts brain maturation during a critical period of development and music potentially enhances cognitive-socio-emotional pathways affected by prematurity. Using multi-modal MRI, we evaluated the structural impact of a music intervention during NICU stay in preterm infants’ brains, namely in WM through DTI ROI and tractography analysis and in amygdala through volumetric analysis. Overall, WM microstructural maturity was decreased in preterm control vs full-term newborns. In comparison to preterm control, preterm exposed to music demonstrate improved WM maturation in uncinate fasciculus, external capsule/claustrum/extreme capsule and larger amygdala volumes, proving a structural effect of music intervention on emotional processing neural pathways.

Muriel Bruchhage, Giang Chau Ngo, Sean Deoni, Viren D'Sa

While childhood is a period of rapid brain development defined by early motor and language milestones, very little is known about the development of functional networks with increasing milestone abilities. We investigated correlation patterns between resting state functional MRI network connectivity and standardized scores for motor and language milestone functions in a large cohort of typically developing children spanning from 3 months to 6 years of age. We demonstrate distinct functional network connectivity patterns for major motor and language milestone functions, which increase in number with task complexity.

Sila Genc, Charles Malpas, Marc Seal, Timothy Silk

Microstructural development is dynamic throughout childhood and adolescence. Modelling these profiles requires statistical flexibility to understand complex interplays between related phenotypes such as sex, pubertal stage, and age. We leverage the fixel-based analysis framework and compute fibre density and morphology metrics in selective white matter tracts, to enable longitudinal mixed-effects modelling of multiple phenotypes. We show that longitudinal development of white matter fibre properties in children aged 9–14 dominates in posterior fibres. Increases in fibre density are associated with increases in pubertal stage and attention dysfunction, and protracted increases in fibre density are associated with greater internalising behaviours.

Giang-Chau Ngo, Muriel Bruchhage, John Rogers, Joshua Beck, Viren D'Sa, Sean Deoni

Task-based functional MRI (fMRI) has been commonly used to study executive functions but may be difficult to implement for children younger than 5-year-old. In this work, resting sate fMRI is combined with in-house tablet-based tasks which evaluate reaction and inhibition control in children from 2 to 5 years of age. The aim is to determine differences in brain connectivity related to the children’s performance of these two tasks. Preliminary results demonstrated the importance of the language, visual and attention networks during the reaction task and asymmetrical changes in frontal parietal and sensorimotor network connectivity associated with the development of inhibition control.

Jing Xia, Fan Wang, Zhengwang Wu, Li Wang, Caiming Zhang, Weili Lin, Dinggang Shen, Gang Li

Joint cortical parcellation maps of human and macaque infant brains with corresponding regions are highly desirable, since they provide basic common cortical parcels for both region-based and network-based studies of two closely-related species. Developmental patterns of infants indicate underlying rapid changes of microstructures, which determine the molecular and functional principles of the cortex. Leveraging 210 longitudinal human infant MRI scans and 140 longitudinal macaque infant MRI scans, we develop a novel method to generate the first joint parcellation maps of human and macaque infants based on their developmental patterns.

Sean Deoni, Giang-Chau Ngo, Muriel Bruchhage, Douglas Dean

Adverse environmental conditions throughout infancy and childhood have potential to result in neurodevelopment delays and impaired cognitive outcomes.  Children born in low and middle income countries (LMICs) often experience significant malnutrition, inadequate sanitation, and are exposed to poor water and air quality, all of which can affect brain and cognitive development.  However, there are limited reports of brain growth in LMICs, with cognitive development often assessed indirectly through measures of physical growth (child height and weight).  Here we present the first reports of brain volume growth in children from a low resource area of India.  Relative to reference brain growth charts derived from a large cohort of healthy children in Providence RI, we find significant brain growth delay, particularly amongst girls.  These results shine new light on the importance of living conditions on child brain health.

Justin Yuan, Colm Connolly, Eva Henje Blom, Leo Sugrue, Tony Yang, Duan Xu, Olga Tymofiyeva

Meditation is a popular mind-body practice with numerous benefits, but its neural mechanism remains unclear. Previous MRI studies have shown morphometric changes associated with meditation, such as increased grey matter volume (GMV). However, these findings were in adults and adolescents remained understudied. Using voxel-based morphometry, we assessed GMV changes in adolescents participating in a training containing elements from mindfulness meditation and yoga-based practices. We found a significant GMV decrease in the left posterior insula, a key homeostatic awareness and interoception region. The decreasing GMV opposes previous findings of structural increase in adults, which may be due to adolescence-specific developmental processes.

Shijun Li, Qiansu Yang, Denghao Li, Weiwei Men, Gang Liu, Yanwei Lv, Lin Ma

Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is suitable to describe brain anatomy, and altered cortical thickness and connectivity are the keys feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) pathophysiology. By processing T1-weighted imaging and diffusion-tensor imaging data from same subjects, cortical thickness and white matter connectivity were shown respectively, and some differences of brain areas were found between typically developing (TD) preschool children group and ASD, which might be related to the behaviors of ASD preschool children. Compared with TD, the thickness of right middle post cingulada gyrus and sulcus increased and its close white matter's fractional anisotropy (FA) of right superior frontal area decreased (P<0.01) in ASD group. These findings may be the morphological biomarkers, which will help guide the precise intervention or treatment in preschool children with ASD as some new neural circuits.

Timothy Roberts, Luke Bloy, Jeffrey Berman

Electrophysiological delays in sensory (e.g. auditory) evoked responses are hallmarks of ASD. However, their magnitude is heterogeneous across the autism spectrum. This study approaches latency delay from a biophysical standpoint, focusing on axonal conduction velocity and synaptic transmission speed as potential mediators of ultimate latency. Combining MEG measures of cortical response latency with MR surrogates of conduction velocity (thalamocortical white matter diffusion fractional anisotropy) and synaptic transmission (MRS estimates of the neurotransmitter GABA) allows the stratification of children with ASD into subgroups dominantly dependent on conduction velocity vs synaptic transmission respectively. Such biological stratification may offer promise for targeted intervention.

Thomas Lampl, Aurelia Sahel, Julia Wallace, Nancy Beluk, Vincent Lee, Cecilia Lo, Ashok Panigrahy, Rafael Ceschin

Both regional and lateralized differences in cerebral cortical thickness were noted in CHD patients compared to controls during a protracted period of critical brain development during childhood and adolescent period. The regional vulnerability was localized to important known cognitive control network including the prefrontal region, salience network and the default mode network . Importantly, ciliary motion abnormalities accounted for most of these regional and lateralized differences in cortical thickness between CHD and controls, underscoring the importance of ciliary mutations/genetic abnormalities underlying cortical dysmaturation in CHD patients.

Santosh Yadav, Rakesh Gupta, Sabah Ahmed, Sheema Hashem, Ajaz Bhat, Ravindra Garg, Vimala Venkatesh, Muhammad Azeem, Mohammad Haris

In the current study, we evaluated the brain integrity [by mapping the fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD)] and neurocognitive performance (NP) in normal children (NCI) born to HIV-infected mother compared to normal children (NCH) born to healthy mother and HIV-infected children (HI). Reduced FA in multiple brain sites of HI and NCI children suggests loss of tissue integrity while altered MD indicates presence of cerebral edema. Presence of tissue changes and abnormal cognition in absence of HIV-infection in NCI children advice that ART may have detrimental effects on brain.

Ashley Harris, David Huddleston, Paul Horn, Kim Cecil, Richard Edden, Donald Gilbert, Stewart Mostofsky, Nicolaas Puts

Reduced inhibition as shown though GABA-edited MRS and TMS measures have been suggested to underlie some of the symptomology of ADHD. In this study we apply GABA-MRS and single- and paired-pulse TMS in ADHD and typically developing cohorts to better understand altered inhibition in ADHD. We show that SICI approaches 1 with increasing GABA across both groups. Secondly, we show a convergence in SICI and single-pulse TMS responses with increasing GABA. Last, we show different factors modulate the TMS responses between ADHD and control suggesting there are additional differences in GABAergic inhibition between these two groups.

Vincent Schmithorst, Ashok Panigrahy, Philip Adams, Cecilia Lo

Nasal nitric oxide (nNO) may be a proxy for NO or NO synthase (NOS) availability in the brain, while NO/NOS availability is likely related to metabolism and downstream to neurocognitive function.  We tested this hypothesis using a mediation analysis with nNO the independent variable, regional CBF (rCBF) as measured by ASL the mediator, and neurocognitive outcome (NIH Toolbox) the dependent variable in a cohort of normal adolescents and adolescents with congenital heart disease.  Anterior and posterior default mode network regions positively mediated all NIH Toolbox composite scores, especially crystallized cognition.  Results indicate nNO may be a powerful biomarker for brain function and metabolism.

Serafeim Loukas, Djalel Meskaldji, Lara Lordier, Joana Sa de Almeida, Dimitri Van De Ville, Petra Huppi

In this study we explore the effects of an early intervention on functional connectivity in preterm newborns. A group of preterm newborns underwent musical intervention in NICU during hospitalization. At TEA, two resting-state fMRI runs were collected. The first was before and the second after the presentation of the same musical stimulus used for the early intervention. We construct the functional connectomes using Accordance and we employ connectome-based statistical methods to unveil changes in functional connectivity evoked by this familiar musical stimulus. Increased connectivity is observed in key brain areas involved in music and emotion processing supporting previous findings.