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Abstract #4312

Development of Axonal Pathways in Preadolescent Children

L. Tugan Muftuler1, Anna Wiebel2, Sandra Waeldin2, Min-Ying Su1, Claudia Buss3, Curt A. Sandman3, Elysia P. Davis3

1Center for Functional Onco-imaging, University of California, Irvine, CA, United States; 2University of Trier, Germany; 3Psychiatry & Human Behavior, University of California, Orange, CA


Abnormal brain development during childhood increases the risks for various cognitive and psychiatric disorders. Therefore understanding normal brain development is important to study these abnormalities. We studied age-associated changes in major pathways of the cerebral white matter in children using high resolution DTI. We focused our study on a narrow age range during late childhood, which is a critical phase in cognitive development. Furthermore, we conducted whole brain analysis to study changes in FA and MD along all major fiber tracts. Our findings illustrate changes in fiber pathways of the brain at a higher detail than previously reported.