Institute for Quantitative Health Sciences and Engineering, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
Departments of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA.
Nat Neurosci. 2024 Jan;27(1):176-186. doi: 10.1038/s41593-023-01501-6. Epub 2023 Nov 23.
The human brain grows quickly during infancy and early childhood, but factors influencing brain maturation in this period remain poorly understood. To address this gap, we harmonized data from eight diverse cohorts, creating one of the largest pediatric neuroimaging datasets to date focused on birth to 6 years of age. We mapped the developmental trajectory of intracranial and subcortical volumes in ∼2,000 children and studied how sociodemographic factors and adverse birth outcomes influence brain structure and cognition. The amygdala was the first subcortical volume to mature, whereas the thalamus exhibited protracted development. Males had larger brain volumes than females, and children born preterm or with low birthweight showed catch-up growth with age. Socioeconomic factors exerted region- and time-specific effects. Regarding cognition, males scored lower than females; preterm birth affected all developmental areas tested, and socioeconomic factors affected visual reception and receptive language. Brain-cognition correlations revealed region-specific associations.
人类大脑在婴儿期和幼儿期迅速发育，但这一时期影响大脑成熟的因素仍知之甚少。为了填补这一空白，我们整合了来自八个不同队列的数据，创建了迄今为止最大的儿科神经影像学数据集之一，重点关注从出生到 6 岁的儿童。我们绘制了大约 2000 名儿童颅内和皮质下容积的发育轨迹，并研究了社会人口因素和不良出生结局如何影响大脑结构和认知。杏仁核是最早成熟的皮质下区域，而丘脑则表现出持续的发育。男性的大脑体积大于女性，早产儿或低出生体重的儿童随着年龄的增长会出现追赶性生长。社会经济因素产生了具有特定区域和时间的影响。关于认知，男性的得分低于女性；早产会影响所有测试的发育区域，社会经济因素会影响视觉接收和接受性语言。大脑认知相关性揭示了特定区域的相关性。
