Longitudinal changes in pubertal maturation and white matter microstructure.

ABSTRACT: Emerging evidence in the field of adolescent neurodevelopment suggests that pubertal processes may contribute to known trajectories of brain maturation, and may contribute, in part, to sex differences in related cognitive, behavioral and mental health outcomes. The current longitudinal study examined how changes in physical pubertal maturation (measured by the Peterson Developmental Scale) predict changes in white matter microstructure in 18 boys and 15 girls over an approximate 2-year follow-up period, while accounting for age. Using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics and multi-level modeling, the results showed that physical pubertal changes predict patterns of changes in fractional anisotropy (FA) in white matter regions in the thalamus, precentral gyrus, superior corona radiata, corpus cal

SUBMITTER: Herting MM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5612361 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature