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Abstract #0737

Apparent Diffusion Coefficient in Children and Adolescents: Effect of Age and Correlation with Neuropsychological Measures of Frontal Brain Function.

Matson M, Wells C, Bonekamp D, Mori S, Horska A, Geckle R, Barnes A, Mahone E
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

To determine structural correlates of neurobehavioral functioning, and to examine white matter maturation in children between 5 and 18 years, we obtained measurements of ADC bilaterally in 15 white matter tracts with a region of interest based data analysis approach. ADC decreased with age in 5 of 15 regions in the left hemisphere and in 3 regions in the right hemisphere. Right anterior white matter ADC significantly predicted scores of Bead Memory, a test of visual working memory considered to be related to functioning in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (right greater than left). Regional ADC in locations considered to be less or not related to Bead Memory showed no significant association.