Apparent thinning of human visual cortex during childhood is associated with myelination (original) (raw)

2019, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Significance MRI data suggest that the thickness of the human cortex appears to decrease during childhood development. However, the underlying microstructural mechanisms are unknown. Using multiple quantitative neuroimaging methods that are sensitive to microstructural tissue content, we found that gray matter tissue and its adjacent white matter in high-level visual cortex show tissue growth related to myelination. Increased myelin alters the contrast between gray and white matter in MRI images and, in turn, affects the apparent cortical boundary. These findings are important because they suggest that cortex does not thin during childhood but instead gets more myelinated. Our data impact understanding of typical and atypical brain development, and clinical conditions implicating myelin including dyslexia, autism, and multiple sclerosis.

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