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Multiphasic myelination and dendritic growth modulate qMRI signals in human visual cortex
Biorxiv : the Preprint Server for Biology
|May 18, 2026
Summary
Human visual cortex myelin develops in two phases: early infant myelination and later childhood myelination. Myelin and MRI relaxation rate (R1) increase with age but have distinct developmental paths.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
- Neuroimaging
Background:
- Myelin is crucial for efficient neural signal transmission in the human visual cortex.
- Understanding the developmental trajectory of myelin is key to comprehending visual system maturation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the developmental patterns of myelin and its relationship with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) longitudinal relaxation rate (R1) in the human visual cortex.
Main Methods:
- Combined immunohistochemistry with in vivo and postmortem MRI R1 measurements.
- Analyzed R1 changes across different developmental stages.
Main Results:
- Myelin and R1 increase during development but exhibit distinct trajectories.
- Identified two myelination phases: infant (deep layers) and childhood (all layers).
- Infant R1 increases correlate with dendritic arborization, not myelin, suggesting changing microstructural drivers.
Conclusions:
- Myelination in the visual cortex occurs in distinct phases, influencing early function and later plasticity.
- The microstructural basis of R1 changes throughout development.
- Hypothesized roles of early and late myelination in visual function and learning.
