Brain myelination at 7 months of age predicts later language development

Between 6 and 12 months of age there are dramatic changes in infants' processing of language. The neurostructural underpinnings of these changes are virtually unknown. The objectives of this study were to (1) examine changes in brain myelination during this developmental period and (2) examine the relationship between myelination during this period and later language development. Macromolecular proton fraction (MPF) was used as a marker of myelination. Whole-brain MPF maps were obtained with 1.25 mm³ isotropic spatial resolution from typically developing children at 7 and 11 months of age. Effective myelin density was calculated from MPF based on a linear relationship known from the literature. Voxel-based analyses were used to identify longitudinal changes in myelin density and to calculate correlations between myelin density at these ages and later language development. Increases in myelin density were more predominant in white matter than in gray matter. A strong predictive relationship was found between myelin density at 7 months of age, language production at 24 and 30 months of age, and rate of language growth. No relationships were found between myelin density at 11 months, or change in myelin density between 7 and 11 months of age, and later language measures. Our findings suggest that critical changes in brain structure may precede periods of pronounced change in early language skills.