Development and Maturation of the Human Brain, from Infancy to Adolescence

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Biology
• Radiology

Background:

• The human brain undergoes significant development from prenatal stages through adolescence.
• Understanding these changes is crucial for identifying developmental trajectories and potential disruptions.
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides non-invasive insights into in vivo brain structure.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the fundamental principles of human brain development and maturation.
• To synthesize key findings on structural brain changes during prenatal, early postnatal, childhood, and adolescent periods.
• To explore the utility of multi-modal MRI in characterizing these age-related variations.

Main Methods:

• Utilized multi-modal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study brain structure in vivo.
• Analyzed age-related variations in grey and white matter using various MRI-based metrics.
• Introduced the concept of virtual histology to aid biological interpretation of MRI data.

Main Results:

• Detailed changes in cerebral cortex structure, including thickness, surface area, and intra-cortical myelination.
• Characterized developmental and maturational changes in white matter volume and structural properties.
• Provided quantitative metrics for assessing age-related brain variations.

Conclusions:

• Multi-modal MRI is a powerful tool for investigating human brain development and maturation.
• Synthesized current knowledge on structural changes across the lifespan, from prenatal development to adolescence.
• Highlighted future research directions for understanding factors influencing human brain development from conception.