Population-wide cerebellar growth models of children and adolescents

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 15; no. 1; p. 2351
• Main Authors: Gaiser, Carolin, van der Vliet, Rick, de Boer, Augustijn A. A., Donchin, Opher, Berthet, Pierre, Devenyi, Gabriel A., Mallar Chakravarty, M., Diedrichsen, Jörn, Marquand, Andre F., Frens, Maarten A., Muetzel, Ryan L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 18-03-2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 59/57; 631/378/2571; 631/553/2695; 692/53; Abnormalities; Adolescent; Adolescents; Age; Cerebellum; Child; Children; Cognition; Cognitive ability; Growth models; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Medical imaging; Mental disorders; multidisciplinary; Neuroimaging; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46398-2

In the past, the cerebellum has been best known for its crucial role in motor function. However, increasingly more findings highlight the importance of cerebellar contributions in cognitive functions and neurodevelopment. Using a total of 7240 neuroimaging scans from 4862 individuals, we describe and provide detailed, openly available models of cerebellar development in childhood and adolescence (age range: 6–17 years), an important time period for brain development and onset of neuropsychiatric disorders. Next to a traditionally used anatomical parcellation of the cerebellum, we generated growth models based on a recently proposed functional parcellation. In both, we find an anterior-posterior growth gradient mirroring the age-related improvements of underlying behavior and function, which is analogous to cerebral maturation patterns and offers evidence for directly related cerebello-cortical developmental trajectories. Finally, we illustrate how the current approach can be used to detect cerebellar abnormalities in clinical samples.
The development of the human cerebellum is not well understood. Here, the authors analyse a large sample of neuroimaging scans from children and adolescents to develop growth models of the cerebellum which mirror age-related developmental trajectories of behaviour and function.