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. 2014 Jan 1:84:810-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.09.038. Epub 2013 Sep 23.

Cognitive ability changes and dynamics of cortical thickness development in healthy children and adolescents

Miguel Burgaleta  1 , Wendy Johnson, Deborah P Waber, Roberto Colom, Sherif Karama
Affiliations

Cognitive ability changes and dynamics of cortical thickness development in healthy children and adolescents

Miguel Burgaleta et al. Neuroimage. .

Abstract

Intelligence quotient (IQ) scores tend to remain stable across the lifespan. Nevertheless, in some healthy individuals, significant decreases or increases in IQ have been observed over time. It is unclear whether such changes reflect true functional change or merely measurement error. Here, we applied surface-based corticometry to investigate vertex-wise cortical surface area and thickness correlates of changes in Full Scale IQ (FSIQ), Performance IQ (PIQ) and Verbal IQ (VIQ) in a representative sample of children and adolescents (n=188, mean age=11.59years) assessed two years apart as part of the NIH Study of Normal Brain Development. No significant associations between changes in IQ measures and changes in cortical surface area were observed, whereas changes in FSIQ, PIQ, and VIQ were related to rates of cortical thinning, mainly in left frontal areas. Participants who showed reliable gains in FSIQ showed no significant changes in cortical thickness on average, whereas those who exhibited no significant FSIQ change showed moderate declines in cortical thickness. Importantly, individuals who showed large decreases in FSIQ displayed the steepest and most significant reductions in cortical thickness. Results support the view that there can be meaningful cognitive ability changes that impact IQ within relatively short developmental periods and show that such changes are associated with the dynamics of cortical thickness development.

Keywords: Brain development; Brain plasticity; Cortical thickness; IQ; Intelligence; Performance IQ; Verbal IQ.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: Authors declare that they have no conflicting financial interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Longitudinal plots for the intra-individual changes in IQ (full-scale, verbal and performance) and cortical thickness between time 1 and time 2. Participants are color-coded based on the magnitude and direction of their change in FSIQ scores (90% confidence interval).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Significant (FWE-corrected P < 0.05) age effect on cortical thickness. Only first order linear cortical thinning age effects were observed. Effects of age at time 1, sex, scanner and inter-scan lapse were controlled.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Significant (FWE-corrected P < 0.05) age effect on cortical surface area. Upper image shows regions of cortical surface area decreases while bottom image shows regions of increases. Effects of age at time 1, sex, scanner and inter-scan lapse were controlled.
Figure 4
Figure 4
A. Cortical regions where change in cortical thickness was associated with change in FSIQ (FWE < 0.05). B. Scatter plot for the relation between IQ changes and CTh changes at the peak vertex (inferior pre-central gyrus; r = 0.33, p < 0.001). Participants are color-coded based on the magnitudes and directions of their changes in FSIQ scores in relation to the 90% confidence interval around mean change in FSIQ). C. Changes in cortical thickness at the same peak vertex represented in panel B, separately for each group of change in IQ: ‘increase’ (N=58), ‘no change’ (N=92), and ‘decrease’ (N=38). T1 = time 1. T2 = time 2. * p < 0.005. ** p < 0.001.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Longitudinal plots for the intra-individual changes in CTh at the peak vertex for the association between FSIQ changes and CTh changes (see Figure 4). Participants are color-coded based on the magnitude and direction of their change in FSIQ scores (90% confidence interval).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Correlations between change in CTh and change in verbal IQ (left), and performance IQ (right).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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