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Early microstructure of white matter associated with infant attention
Kristin N Dowe1, Elizabeth M Planalp2, Douglas C Dean3
1University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Psychology, 1202 W Johnson St, Madison, WI, 53706 United States.
Insights
Infants with more developed white matter in key brain areas showed better attention skills. This suggests that early brain structure influences the development of attentional orienting behaviors in infants.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Infant brain development is rapid and linked to cognitive functions like attention.
- Attentional abilities develop alongside the frontoparietal orienting network in the brain.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between white matter microstructure in infants and their subsequent attentional orienting behaviors.
- To explore how brain development in early infancy relates to cognitive functions.
Main Methods:
- Used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on 97 one-month-old infants.
- Applied diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) models.
- Assessed infant attention at six months using a dynamic puppet task.
Main Results:
- Higher fractional anisotropy (FA) in the corpus callosum and anterior cingulum correlated with increased orienting behaviors.
- Specific white matter tract microstructure in the orienting network was linked to attention.
Conclusions:
- Increased white matter microstructure in the infant orienting network may support early attentional orienting development.
- Brain structure in early infancy is a significant factor in the neurodevelopment of attention.
Abstract:
Early infancy is characterized by rapid brain development that occurs alongside, and in response to, the development of cognitive and behavioral functions, including attention. Infants' ability to orient and sustain attention to stimuli develops in concert with refinement of the orienting network in frontoparietal regions of the brain. Infants (n = 97) underwent magnetic resonance imaging at one-month of age and data were fit to a diffusion tensor imaging model to calculate fractional anisotropy (FA) and radial diffusivity (RD), as well as to a neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging model to calculate intracellular volume fraction (νic). Infant attention was assessed at six months of age using a dynamic puppet task (Cuevas and Bell, 2014). Infants with higher FA in the corpus callosum and anterior cingulum showed increased orienting behaviors. Our findings indicate that increased microstructure of the white matter tracts in the orienting network may play a role in the early neurodevelopment of attentional orienting behaviors.
