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Birth weight is associated with adolescent brain development: A multimodal imaging study in monozygotic twins.
- Source :
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Human brain mapping [Hum Brain Mapp] 2020 Dec 15; Vol. 41 (18), pp. 5228-5239. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Sep 02. - Publication Year :
- 2020
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Abstract
- Previous research has shown that the prenatal environment, commonly indexed by birth weight (BW), is a predictor of morphological brain development. We previously showed in monozygotic (MZ) twins associations between BW and brain morphology that were independent of genetics. In the present study, we employed a longitudinal MZ twin design to investigate whether variations in prenatal environment (as indexed by discordance in BW) are associated with resting-state functional connectivity (rs-FC) and with structural connectivity. We focused on the limbic and default mode networks (DMNs), which are key regions for emotion regulation and internally generated thoughts, respectively. One hundred and six healthy adolescent MZ twins (53 pairs; 42% male pairs) followed longitudinally from birth underwent a magnetic resonance imaging session at age 15. Graph theoretical analysis was applied to rs-FC measures. TrackVis was used to determine track count as an indicator of structural connectivity strength. Lower BW twins had less efficient limbic network connectivity as compared to their higher BW co-twin, driven by differences in the efficiency of the right hippocampus and right amygdala. Lower BW male twins had fewer tracks connecting the right hippocampus and right amygdala as compared to their higher BW male co-twin. There were no associations between BW and the DMN. These findings highlight the possible role of unique prenatal environmental influences in the later development of efficient spontaneous limbic network connections within healthy individuals, irrespective of DNA sequence or shared environment.<br /> (© 2020 The Authors. Human Brain Mapping published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)
- Subjects :
- Adolescent
Female
Humans
Infant, Newborn
Longitudinal Studies
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Sex Factors
Amygdala anatomy & histology
Amygdala diagnostic imaging
Amygdala physiology
Birth Weight physiology
Connectome
Default Mode Network anatomy & histology
Default Mode Network diagnostic imaging
Default Mode Network physiology
Hippocampus anatomy & histology
Hippocampus diagnostic imaging
Hippocampus physiology
Infant, Low Birth Weight physiology
Nerve Net anatomy & histology
Nerve Net diagnostic imaging
Nerve Net physiology
Twins, Monozygotic
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1097-0193
- Volume :
- 41
- Issue :
- 18
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Human brain mapping
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 32881198
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.25188