Developmental trajectories of the human embryologic brain regions

Kumiko Oishi; Jill Chotiyanonta; Dan Wu; Michael I Miller; Susumu Mori; Kenichi Oishi; Pediatric Imaging Neurocognition and Genetics Study

doi:10.1016/j.neulet.2019.134342

Developmental trajectories of the human embryologic brain regions

Neurosci Lett. 2019 Aug 24:708:134342. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2019.134342. Epub 2019 Jun 19.

Authors

Kumiko Oishi¹, Jill Chotiyanonta², Dan Wu², Michael I Miller³, Susumu Mori⁴, Kenichi Oishi⁵; Pediatric Imaging Neurocognition and Genetics Study

Affiliations

¹ Center for Imaging Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States.
² The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.
³ Center for Imaging Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States; Institute for Computational Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States.
⁴ Center for Imaging Science, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States; The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States.
⁵ Institute for Computational Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States; The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States. Electronic address: koishi@mri.jhu.edu.

Abstract

Vertebrate brains commonly consist of five basic embryologic anatomical regions: telencephalon; diencephalon; mesencephalon; metencephalon; and myelencephalon. The proportions of these regions vary widely across species and developmental stages. Investigation of their growth trajectories, therefore, has the potential to provide an understanding of the substrates of inter-species variation in neuroanatomy and function. To investigate the volumetric growth trajectories, structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans obtained from 618 healthy children (334 boys, 284 girls; ages 3-17 years old) were parcellated into five regions for the volume quantification. The sex- and region-specific growth trajectories were identified, and the most active growth was seen in the mesencephalon for both boys and girls. Whether similar regional growth patterns are seen in other species, or whether such patterns are related to evolution, are important questions that must be elucidated in the future.

Keywords: Atlas; Child; Diencephalon; Magnetic resonance imaging; Mesencephalon; Metencephalon; Myelencephalon; Telencephalon.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Brain / anatomy & histology*
Brain / growth & development
Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Organ Size
Sex Factors

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding