Moore Dorothea M, D'Mello Anila M, McGrath Lauren M, Stoodley Catherine J
Department of Psychology, American University, Washington, DC, USA.
School of Education, American University, Washington, DC, USA; Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, American University, Washington, DC, USA; Department of Psychology, University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA.
Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2017 Apr;24:1-11. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2016.12.001. Epub 2016 Dec 21.
There is growing evidence that the cerebellum is involved in cognition and cognitive development, yet little is known about the developmental relationship between cerebellar structure and cognitive subdomains in children. We used voxel-based morphometry to assess the relationship between cerebellar grey matter (GM) and language, reading, working memory, executive function, and processing speed in 110 individuals aged 8-17 years from the Pediatric Imaging, Neurocognition, and Genetics (PING) Study. Further, we examined the effect of age on the relationships between cerebellar GM and cognition. Higher scores on vocabulary, reading, working memory, and set-shifting were associated with increased GM in the posterior cerebellum (lobules VI-IX), in regions which are typically engaged during cognitive tasks in healthy adults. For reading, working memory, and processing speed, the relationship between cerebellar GM and cognitive performance changed with age in specific cerebellar subregions. As in adults, posterior lobe cerebellar GM was associated with cognitive performance in a pediatric population, and this relationship mirrored the known developmental trajectory of posterior cerebellar GM. These findings provide further evidence that specific regions of the cerebellum support cognition and cognitive development, and suggest that the strength of this relationship depends on developmental stage.
越来越多的证据表明，小脑参与认知和认知发展，但对于儿童小脑结构与认知子领域之间的发育关系却知之甚少。我们使用基于体素的形态测量法，在儿科影像、神经认知与遗传学（PING）研究中，评估了110名8至17岁个体的小脑灰质（GM）与语言、阅读、工作记忆、执行功能和处理速度之间的关系。此外，我们还研究了年龄对小脑GM与认知之间关系的影响。词汇、阅读、工作记忆和任务转换得分较高与小脑后部（小叶VI - IX）GM增加有关，这些区域在健康成年人进行认知任务时通常会被激活。对于阅读、工作记忆和处理速度，小脑GM与认知表现之间的关系在特定小脑亚区域随年龄而变化。与成年人一样，小脑后叶GM与儿童群体的认知表现相关，这种关系反映了小脑后部GM已知的发育轨迹。这些发现进一步证明，小脑的特定区域支持认知和认知发展，并表明这种关系强度取决于发育阶段。
