Associations between white matter microstructure and infants' working memory

Sarah J. Short; Jed T. Elison; Barbara Davis Goldman; Martin Styner; Hongbin Gu; Mark Connelly; Eric Maltbie; Sandra Woolson; Weili Lin; Guido Gerig; J. Steven Reznick; John H. Gilmore

doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.09.021

Associations between white matter microstructure and infants' working memory

Sarah J. Short, Jed T. Elison, Barbara Davis Goldman, Martin Styner, Hongbin Gu, Mark Connelly, Eric Maltbie, Sandra Woolson, Weili Lin, Guido Gerig, J. Steven Reznick, John H. Gilmore

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

85 Scopus citations

Abstract

Working memory emerges in infancy and plays a privileged role in subsequent adaptive cognitive development. The neural networks important for the development of working memory during infancy remain unknown. We used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and deterministic fiber tracking to characterize the microstructure of white matter fiber bundles hypothesized to support working memory in 12-month-old infants (n= 73). Here we show robust associations between infants' visuospatial working memory performance and microstructural characteristics of widespread white matter. Significant associations were found for white matter tracts that connect brain regions known to support working memory in older children and adults (genu, anterior and superior thalamic radiations, anterior cingulum, arcuate fasciculus, and the temporal-parietal segment). Better working memory scores were associated with higher FA and lower RD values in these selected white matter tracts. These tract-specific brain-behavior relationships accounted for a significant amount of individual variation above and beyond infants' gestational age and developmental level, as measured with the Mullen Scales of Early Learning. Working memory was not associated with global measures of brain volume, as expected, and few associations were found between working memory and control white matter tracts. To our knowledge, this study is among the first demonstrations of brain-behavior associations in infants using quantitative tractography. The ability to characterize subtle individual differences in infant brain development associated with complex cognitive functions holds promise for improving our understanding of normative development, biomarkers of risk, experience-dependent learning and neuro-cognitive periods of developmental plasticity.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	156-166
Number of pages	11
Journal	NeuroImage
Volume	64
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.09.021
State	Published - Jan 1 2013
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research was supported by the following grants: NIMH Silvio O. Conte Center ( MH064065 ) and Twin ( MH070890 and MH091645 ), NICHD ( HD053000 ), IDDRC ( P30-HD003110 ), and NRSA ( T32 NS007431 ). SJS and JTE were supported by NRSA awards ( T32 HD040127 and 5T32HD007376 , respectively) from NICHD . MS and GG were additionally supported by the National Alliance for Medical Image Computing (NA-MIC) , funded by the NIH ( U54 EB005149 ). In addition, we gratefully acknowledge Dianne Evans, Mary Norton, Bob Hamer, Amanda Lyall, Xiujuan Geng, and Janice Linn for their contributions to this project, and the research assistants involved in testing the infants: Elizabeth Misiti, Kathryn Cochrane, Hillary Langley, Sarah Palmer, Portia Henderson, Molly McGinnis, and Emily Bostwick. We are also deeply grateful to the families of the infants for their willingness to involve their infants, and themselves, in this work.

Keywords

Brain development
Diffusion tensor imaging
Infant
White matter
Working memory

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title = "Associations between white matter microstructure and infants' working memory",

abstract = "Working memory emerges in infancy and plays a privileged role in subsequent adaptive cognitive development. The neural networks important for the development of working memory during infancy remain unknown. We used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and deterministic fiber tracking to characterize the microstructure of white matter fiber bundles hypothesized to support working memory in 12-month-old infants (n= 73). Here we show robust associations between infants' visuospatial working memory performance and microstructural characteristics of widespread white matter. Significant associations were found for white matter tracts that connect brain regions known to support working memory in older children and adults (genu, anterior and superior thalamic radiations, anterior cingulum, arcuate fasciculus, and the temporal-parietal segment). Better working memory scores were associated with higher FA and lower RD values in these selected white matter tracts. These tract-specific brain-behavior relationships accounted for a significant amount of individual variation above and beyond infants' gestational age and developmental level, as measured with the Mullen Scales of Early Learning. Working memory was not associated with global measures of brain volume, as expected, and few associations were found between working memory and control white matter tracts. To our knowledge, this study is among the first demonstrations of brain-behavior associations in infants using quantitative tractography. The ability to characterize subtle individual differences in infant brain development associated with complex cognitive functions holds promise for improving our understanding of normative development, biomarkers of risk, experience-dependent learning and neuro-cognitive periods of developmental plasticity.",

keywords = "Brain development, Diffusion tensor imaging, Infant, White matter, Working memory",

author = "Short, {Sarah J.} and Elison, {Jed T.} and Goldman, {Barbara Davis} and Martin Styner and Hongbin Gu and Mark Connelly and Eric Maltbie and Sandra Woolson and Weili Lin and Guido Gerig and Reznick, {J. Steven} and Gilmore, {John H.}",

note = "Funding Information: This research was supported by the following grants: NIMH Silvio O. Conte Center ( MH064065 ) and Twin ( MH070890 and MH091645 ), NICHD ( HD053000 ), IDDRC ( P30-HD003110 ), and NRSA ( T32 NS007431 ). SJS and JTE were supported by NRSA awards ( T32 HD040127 and 5T32HD007376 , respectively) from NICHD . MS and GG were additionally supported by the National Alliance for Medical Image Computing (NA-MIC) , funded by the NIH ( U54 EB005149 ). In addition, we gratefully acknowledge Dianne Evans, Mary Norton, Bob Hamer, Amanda Lyall, Xiujuan Geng, and Janice Linn for their contributions to this project, and the research assistants involved in testing the infants: Elizabeth Misiti, Kathryn Cochrane, Hillary Langley, Sarah Palmer, Portia Henderson, Molly McGinnis, and Emily Bostwick. We are also deeply grateful to the families of the infants for their willingness to involve their infants, and themselves, in this work. ",

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AU - Short, Sarah J.

AU - Elison, Jed T.

AU - Goldman, Barbara Davis

AU - Styner, Martin

AU - Gu, Hongbin

AU - Connelly, Mark

AU - Maltbie, Eric

AU - Woolson, Sandra

AU - Lin, Weili

AU - Gerig, Guido

AU - Reznick, J. Steven

AU - Gilmore, John H.

N1 - Funding Information: This research was supported by the following grants: NIMH Silvio O. Conte Center ( MH064065 ) and Twin ( MH070890 and MH091645 ), NICHD ( HD053000 ), IDDRC ( P30-HD003110 ), and NRSA ( T32 NS007431 ). SJS and JTE were supported by NRSA awards ( T32 HD040127 and 5T32HD007376 , respectively) from NICHD . MS and GG were additionally supported by the National Alliance for Medical Image Computing (NA-MIC) , funded by the NIH ( U54 EB005149 ). In addition, we gratefully acknowledge Dianne Evans, Mary Norton, Bob Hamer, Amanda Lyall, Xiujuan Geng, and Janice Linn for their contributions to this project, and the research assistants involved in testing the infants: Elizabeth Misiti, Kathryn Cochrane, Hillary Langley, Sarah Palmer, Portia Henderson, Molly McGinnis, and Emily Bostwick. We are also deeply grateful to the families of the infants for their willingness to involve their infants, and themselves, in this work.

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N2 - Working memory emerges in infancy and plays a privileged role in subsequent adaptive cognitive development. The neural networks important for the development of working memory during infancy remain unknown. We used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and deterministic fiber tracking to characterize the microstructure of white matter fiber bundles hypothesized to support working memory in 12-month-old infants (n= 73). Here we show robust associations between infants' visuospatial working memory performance and microstructural characteristics of widespread white matter. Significant associations were found for white matter tracts that connect brain regions known to support working memory in older children and adults (genu, anterior and superior thalamic radiations, anterior cingulum, arcuate fasciculus, and the temporal-parietal segment). Better working memory scores were associated with higher FA and lower RD values in these selected white matter tracts. These tract-specific brain-behavior relationships accounted for a significant amount of individual variation above and beyond infants' gestational age and developmental level, as measured with the Mullen Scales of Early Learning. Working memory was not associated with global measures of brain volume, as expected, and few associations were found between working memory and control white matter tracts. To our knowledge, this study is among the first demonstrations of brain-behavior associations in infants using quantitative tractography. The ability to characterize subtle individual differences in infant brain development associated with complex cognitive functions holds promise for improving our understanding of normative development, biomarkers of risk, experience-dependent learning and neuro-cognitive periods of developmental plasticity.

AB - Working memory emerges in infancy and plays a privileged role in subsequent adaptive cognitive development. The neural networks important for the development of working memory during infancy remain unknown. We used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and deterministic fiber tracking to characterize the microstructure of white matter fiber bundles hypothesized to support working memory in 12-month-old infants (n= 73). Here we show robust associations between infants' visuospatial working memory performance and microstructural characteristics of widespread white matter. Significant associations were found for white matter tracts that connect brain regions known to support working memory in older children and adults (genu, anterior and superior thalamic radiations, anterior cingulum, arcuate fasciculus, and the temporal-parietal segment). Better working memory scores were associated with higher FA and lower RD values in these selected white matter tracts. These tract-specific brain-behavior relationships accounted for a significant amount of individual variation above and beyond infants' gestational age and developmental level, as measured with the Mullen Scales of Early Learning. Working memory was not associated with global measures of brain volume, as expected, and few associations were found between working memory and control white matter tracts. To our knowledge, this study is among the first demonstrations of brain-behavior associations in infants using quantitative tractography. The ability to characterize subtle individual differences in infant brain development associated with complex cognitive functions holds promise for improving our understanding of normative development, biomarkers of risk, experience-dependent learning and neuro-cognitive periods of developmental plasticity.

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Associations between white matter microstructure and infants' working memory

Abstract

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Keywords

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