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Science 19 March 1999:
Vol. 283. no. 5409, pp. 1908 - 1911
DOI: 10.1126/science.283.5409.1908
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Reports

Structural Maturation of Neural Pathways in Children and Adolescents: In Vivo Study

Tomás Paus, *1 Alex Zijdenbos, 1 Keith Worsley, 1 D. Louis Collins, 1 Jonathan Blumenthal, 2 Jay N. Giedd, 2 Judith L. Rapoport, 2 Alan C. Evans 1

Structural maturation of fiber tracts in the human brain, including an increase in the diameter and myelination of axons, may play a role in cognitive development during childhood and adolescence. A computational analysis of structural magnetic resonance images obtained in 111 children and adolescents revealed age-related increases in white matter density in fiber tracts constituting putative corticospinal and frontotemporal pathways. The maturation of the corticospinal tract was bilateral, whereas that of the frontotemporal pathway was found predominantly in the left (speech-dominant) hemisphere. These findings provide evidence for a gradual maturation, during late childhood and adolescence, of fiber pathways presumably supporting motor and speech functions.

1 Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, 3801 University Street, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2B4, Canada.
2 Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, Building 10, Room 6N240, 10 Center Drive, MSC-1600, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: tomas{at}bic.mni.mcgill.ca

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