Department of Neuroscience, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada; Owerko Centre, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, 2500, University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada.
Owerko Centre, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, University of Calgary, 2500, University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada; Department of Radiology, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada; Hotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada.
Neuroimage. 2018 Dec;183:828-835. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.09.004. Epub 2018 Sep 4.
The preschool period is a time of significant physical and behavioral growth, including the improvement of gross and fine motor skills. Although motor development has been comprehensively mapped from infancy to adulthood, the neural correlates associated with motor advancements during early childhood remain unclear. The current study used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to delineate key motor pathways and characterize their relationships with motor performance in 80 typically developing preschool children, aged 3-6 years. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2nd edition (MABC-II) was used to assess motor functioning. Partial correlations between DTI parameters and motor performance, controlling for sex and age, revealed a positive correlation between motor performance and fractional anisotropy of corpus callosum motor fibers, as well as negative correlations of motor performance with mean and radial diffusivity. These results appear to be driven by females, as correlations were significant in girls but not boys when analyzed separately. Mean corticospinal tract (CST) diffusion parameters were not significantly related to motor performance, but relationships were observed at regionally specific locations along the bilateral CST. These findings suggest preschool-aged children with better motor performance show more mature white matter patterns within motor pathways, and that the structural variation in these pathways may partially account for the natural variability in motor performance.
学前阶段是身体和行为成长的重要时期，包括粗大运动和精细运动技能的提高。尽管从婴儿期到成年期已经全面描绘了运动发育情况，但与儿童早期运动进展相关的神经相关性仍不清楚。本研究使用弥散张量成像（DTI）来描绘关键的运动通路，并描述它们与 80 名发育正常的 3-6 岁学龄前儿童的运动表现之间的关系。使用儿童运动评估量表-第二版（MABC-II）评估运动功能。在控制性别和年龄的情况下，DTI 参数与运动表现之间的部分相关显示，运动表现与胼胝体运动纤维的各向异性分数呈正相关，与运动表现呈负相关的是平均和放射状弥散度。这些结果似乎是由女性驱动的，因为在分别分析时，女孩的相关性显著，但男孩没有。平均皮质脊髓束（CST）的扩散参数与运动表现没有显著相关，但在双侧 CST 的特定区域观察到了相关性。这些发现表明，运动表现较好的学龄前儿童在运动通路上表现出更成熟的白质模式，而这些通路中的结构变化可能部分解释了运动表现的自然变异性。
