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Cerebral Cortex Advance Access originally published online on April 10, 2009
Cerebral Cortex 2009 19(12):2916-2929; doi:10.1093/cercor/bhp061
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Regional Patterns of Cerebral Cortical Differentiation Determined by Diffusion Tensor MRI

Christopher D. Kroenke13, Erin N. Taber1, Lindsey A. Leigland2, Andrew K. Knutsen4 and Philip V. Bayly4

1 Advanced Imaging Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA, 2 Department of Behavioral Neuro science, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA, 3 Division of Neuroscience, Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA, 4 Department of Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA

Address correspondence to: Christopher D. Kroenke, Advanced Imaging Research Center, Mail Code L452, Oregon Health & Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97239, USA. Email: kroenkec{at}ohsu.edu.

The morphology of axonal and dendritic arbors in the immature cerebral cortex influences the degree of anisotropy in water diffusion. This enables cortical maturation to be monitored by the noninvasive technique of diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DTI). Herein, we utilized DTI of postmortem ferret brain to quantify regional and temporal patterns in cortical maturation. We found that diffusion anisotropy within the isocortex decreases over the first month of life, coinciding closely in time with expansion of axonal and dendritic cellular processes of pyramidal neurons. Regional patterns consist of differences between allocortex and isocortex, a regional anisotropy gradient that closely parallels the transverse neurogenetic gradient, and differences between primary and nonprimary isocortical areas. By combining the temporal and regional factors, the isocortical developmental gradient magnitude corresponds to a 5-day difference in maturity between relatively developed rostral/caudal isocortex at the gradient source and less mature isocortex at the occipital pole. Additionally, the developmental trajectory of primary areas precedes nonprimary areas by 2.7 days. These quantitative estimates coincide with previous histological studies of ferret development. Similarities in cerebral cortical diffusion anisotropy observed between ferret and other species suggest the framework developed here is of general potential relevance.

Key Words: brain • development • DTI • dendritic branching • ferret


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