Dynamic mapping of human cortical development during childhood through early adulthood
- Nitin Gogtay*,†,
- Jay N. Giedd*,
- Leslie Lusk*,
- Kiralee M. Hayashi‡,
- Deanna Greenstein*,
- A. Catherine Vaituzis*,
- Tom F. NugentIII*,
- David H. Herman*,
- Liv S. Clasen*,
- Arthur W. Toga‡,
- Judith L. Rapoport*, and
- Paul M. Thompson‡
- *Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institutes of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892; and ‡Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Department of Neurology, University of California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1769
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Communicated by Leslie G. Ungerleider, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, April 15, 2004 (received for review January 7, 2004)
Abstract
We report the dynamic anatomical sequence of human cortical gray matter development between the age of 4–21 years using quantitative four-dimensional maps and time-lapse sequences. Thirteen healthy children for whom anatomic brain MRI scans were obtained every 2 years, for 8–10 years, were studied. By using models of the cortical surface and sulcal landmarks and a statistical model for gray matter density, human cortical development could be visualized across the age range in a spatiotemporally detailed time-lapse sequence. The resulting time-lapse “movies” reveal that (i) higher-order association cortices mature only after lower-order somatosensory and visual cortices, the functions of which they integrate, are developed, and (ii) phylogenetically older brain areas mature earlier than newer ones. Direct comparison with normal cortical development may help understanding of some neurodevelopmental disorders such as childhood-onset schizophrenia or autism.
Footnotes
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↵ † To whom correspondence should be addressed at: Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Building 10, Room 3N 202, Bethesda, MD 20892. E-mail: nitin{at}codon.nih.gov.
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Abbreviations: GM, gray matter; STG, superior temporal gyrus.
- Copyright © 2004, The National Academy of Sciences
