TY - JOUR
T1 - Motion corrected MRI differentiates male and female human brain growth trajectories from mid-gestation
AU - Studholme, Colin
AU - Kroenke, Christopher D.
AU - Dighe, Manjiri
N1 - Funding Information:
This work contributing to this publication was primarily funded by NIH Grants R01 EB017133, R01 NS055064 (to C.S., U.W.), R01 AA021981 (to C.D.K., O.H.S.U.), and also by UL1TR000423 and Seattle Children’s Hospital internal funds. Fetal MRI techniques made use of software keys made available through a collaborative research agreement between the University of Washington and Phillips Medical Systems. We thank the many students, postdocs, researchers, and staff at the University of Washington and the University of Washington Medical Center who have assisted in the different stages of data collection and analysis. We would also like to thank the reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions that helped significantly improve the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s).
PY - 2020/12/1
Y1 - 2020/12/1
N2 - It is of considerable scientific, medical, and societal interest to understand the developmental origins of differences between male and female brains. Here we report the use of advances in MR imaging and analysis to accurately measure global, lobe and millimetre scale growth trajectory patterns over 18 gestational weeks in normal pregnancies with repeated measures. Statistical modelling of absolute growth trajectories revealed underlying differences in many measures, potentially reflecting overall body size differences. However, models of relative growth accounting for global measures revealed a complex temporal form, with strikingly similar cortical development in males and females at lobe scales. In contrast, local cortical growth patterns and larger scale white matter volume and surface measures differed significantly between male and female. Many proportional differences were maintained during neurogenesis and over 18 weeks of growth. These indicate sex related sculpting of neuroanatomy begins early in development, before cortical folding, potentially influencing postnatal development.
AB - It is of considerable scientific, medical, and societal interest to understand the developmental origins of differences between male and female brains. Here we report the use of advances in MR imaging and analysis to accurately measure global, lobe and millimetre scale growth trajectory patterns over 18 gestational weeks in normal pregnancies with repeated measures. Statistical modelling of absolute growth trajectories revealed underlying differences in many measures, potentially reflecting overall body size differences. However, models of relative growth accounting for global measures revealed a complex temporal form, with strikingly similar cortical development in males and females at lobe scales. In contrast, local cortical growth patterns and larger scale white matter volume and surface measures differed significantly between male and female. Many proportional differences were maintained during neurogenesis and over 18 weeks of growth. These indicate sex related sculpting of neuroanatomy begins early in development, before cortical folding, potentially influencing postnatal development.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41467-020-16763-y
DO - 10.1038/s41467-020-16763-y
M3 - Article
C2 - 32546755
AN - SCOPUS:85086593341
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 11
JO - Nature communications
JF - Nature communications
IS - 1
M1 - 3038
ER -