Characterization of the central sulcus in the brain in early childhood

Abstract

Characterization of the developing brain during early childhood is of interest for both neuroscience and medicine, and in particular, is key to understanding what goes wrong in neurodevelopmental disorders. In particular, the cortex grows rapidly in the first 3 years of life, and creating a normative atlas can provide a comparison tool to diagnose disorders at an early stage, thereby empowering early interventional therapies. Zooming in on specific sulci may provide additional targeted information, and notably, an understanding of central sulcus growth can provide important insight on the development of laterality. However, there currently do not exist any atlases of specific changes in sulci as the brain grows. In this pilot study, we explore regional differences in the depth of the central sulcus between two and three year old infants using brain magnetic resonance images.

Central sulcus development in early childhood

“…Many functions associated with this sulcus develop rapidly in the early childhood period, including language and motor skills [13]. Previously we investigated the CS in two and three year old children and found differences in the CS in regions that corresponds to the tongue area, indicating language development [14]. In this study, we aim to comprehend better the changes in the CS corresponding to motor and sensory function development by including a younger age group of 1 year old subjects and also by exploring the growth pattern of the central sulcus with respect to age through means of linear regression.…”