Longitudinal MRI to assess effect of puberty on subcortical brain development: an observational study

Abstract Background The human brain undergoes significant change between childhood and adulthood, but little is known about how puberty influences its structural development. To investigate the control mechanisms behind adolescent brain development, we examined how subcortical brain regions change i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Lancet (British edition) 2014-02, Vol.383, p.S52-S52
Main Authors: Goddings, Anne-Lise, Dr, Mills, Kathryn, BSc, Clasen, Liv, PhD, Giedd, Jay, MD, Viner, Russell, Prof, Blakemore, Sarah-Jayne, Prof
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Internal Medicine
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Summary:Abstract Background The human brain undergoes significant change between childhood and adulthood, but little is known about how puberty influences its structural development. To investigate the control mechanisms behind adolescent brain development, we examined how subcortical brain regions change in relation to puberty. Methods We used a longitudinal sample of 711 MRI scans from 275 individuals aged 7–20 years. All participants had at least two scans with recorded Tanner stage (a measure of pubertal status). The MRI scans were processed with surface-based reconstruction software, and volumes were extracted for the a-priori structures of interest: the amygdala, hippocampus, nucleus accumbens (NA), caudate, putamen, and globus pallidus (GP). Mixed-effects modelling established best-fit models of the developmental trajectory of each structure of interest in relation to Tanner stage. Cubic, quadratic, and linear growth models were compared using F tests between models where the highest order variable was significant (p
ISSN:0140-6736
1474-547X
DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60315-9