Brain myelination at 7 months of age predicts later language development.

Neuroimage

Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.

Published: November 2022

Between 6 and 12 months of age there are dramatic changes in infants' processing of language. The neurostructural underpinnings of these changes are virtually unknown. The objectives of this study were to (1) examine changes in brain myelination during this developmental period and (2) examine the relationship between myelination during this period and later language development. Macromolecular proton fraction (MPF) was used as a marker of myelination. Whole-brain MPF maps were obtained with 1.25 mm isotropic spatial resolution from typically developing children at 7 and 11 months of age. Effective myelin density was calculated from MPF based on a linear relationship known from the literature. Voxel-based analyses were used to identify longitudinal changes in myelin density and to calculate correlations between myelin density at these ages and later language development. Increases in myelin density were more predominant in white matter than in gray matter. A strong predictive relationship was found between myelin density at 7 months of age, language production at 24 and 30 months of age, and rate of language growth. No relationships were found between myelin density at 11 months, or change in myelin density between 7 and 11 months of age, and later language measures. Our findings suggest that critical changes in brain structure may precede periods of pronounced change in early language skills.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10038938PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119641DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

myelin density
28
months age
24
language development
12
density months
12
brain myelination
8
language
8
changes brain
8
age language
8
months
7
myelin
7

Similar Publications

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!