Abstract #0770
White Matter Development During Late Adolescence in Healthy Males: A Cross-Sectional Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study
Ashtari M, Hasan K, Kester H, Cervellione K, Ardekani B, Kumra S, Szeszko P, McIlree C, Wu J
North Shore Long Island Jewish Health System
The authors investigated white matter maturation as reflected by changes in anisotropy with age in a cohort of healthy adolescent males. Twenty-four healthy volunteers were divided into two groups based on a median age split and were studied using DTI and voxelwise analysis. Increased FA and parallel anisotropy were observed in older adolescents in the left arcuate fasciculus. Verbal fluency and verbal comprehension were correlated with higher FA in this area. The increased FA and parallel anisotropy may reflect a tendency in reduced tortuousity and/or increased axonal fiber organization to a more parallel orientation during brain maturation in late adolescent.
