MRI morphometry of the anterior and posterior cerebellar vermis and its relationship to sensorimotor and cognitive functions in children

Affiliations

¹ Pediatric Neuroscience Laboratory, Psychology Clinical Neuroscience Center, Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
² Institute of Human Neuroscience, Boys Town National Research Hospital, 14090 Mother Teresa Lane, Boys Town, NE 68010, USA.
³ Mind Research Network and Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute, 1101 Yale Blvd N.E., Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA; Tri-institutional Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS), Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Emory, Atlanta, GA, USA.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tulane University, 6823 St. Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA 70118, USA.
⁵ MGH/MIT Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
⁶ Mind Research Network and Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute, 1101 Yale Blvd N.E., Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA.
⁷ Pediatric Neuroscience Laboratory, Psychology Clinical Neuroscience Center, Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA; MGH/MIT Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: KCIESIELSKI@mgh.harvard.edu.

PMID: 38713999
PMCID: PMC11096723
DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101385

MRI morphometry of the anterior and posterior cerebellar vermis and its relationship to sensorimotor and cognitive functions in children

Elizabeth A Hodgdon et al. Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2024 Jun.

. 2024 Jun:67:101385.

doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101385. Epub 2024 Apr 25.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Pediatric Neuroscience Laboratory, Psychology Clinical Neuroscience Center, Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
² Institute of Human Neuroscience, Boys Town National Research Hospital, 14090 Mother Teresa Lane, Boys Town, NE 68010, USA.
³ Mind Research Network and Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute, 1101 Yale Blvd N.E., Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA; Tri-institutional Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS), Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Emory, Atlanta, GA, USA.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tulane University, 6823 St. Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA 70118, USA.
⁵ MGH/MIT Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
⁶ Mind Research Network and Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute, 1101 Yale Blvd N.E., Albuquerque, NM 87106, USA.
⁷ Pediatric Neuroscience Laboratory, Psychology Clinical Neuroscience Center, Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA; MGH/MIT Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA. Electronic address: KCIESIELSKI@mgh.harvard.edu.

PMID: 38713999
PMCID: PMC11096723
DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101385

Abstract

Introduction: The human cerebellum emerges as a posterior brain structure integrating neural networks for sensorimotor, cognitive, and emotional processing across the lifespan. Developmental studies of the cerebellar anatomy and function are scant. We examine age-dependent MRI morphometry of the anterior cerebellar vermis, lobules I-V and posterior neocortical lobules VI-VII and their relationship to sensorimotor and cognitive functions.

Methods: Typically developing children (TDC; n=38; age 9-15) and healthy adults (HAC; n=31; 18-40) participated in high-resolution MRI. Rigorous anatomically informed morphometry of the vermis lobules I-V and VI-VII and total brain volume (TBV) employed manual segmentation computer-assisted FreeSurfer Image Analysis Program [http://surfer.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu]. The neuropsychological scores (WASI-II) were normalized and related to volumes of anterior, posterior vermis, and TBV.

Results: TBVs were age independent. Volumes of I-V and VI-VII were significantly reduced in TDC. The ratio of VI-VII to I-V (∼60%) was stable across age-groups; I-V correlated with visual-spatial-motor skills; VI-VII with verbal, visual-abstract and FSIQ.

Conclusions: In TDC neither anterior I-V nor posterior VI-VII vermis attained adult volumes. The "inverted U" developmental trajectory of gray matter peaking in adolescence does not explain this finding. The hypothesis of protracted development of oligodendrocyte/myelination is suggested as a contributor to TDC's lower cerebellar vermis volumes.

Keywords: Cerebellar vermis; Hypothesis of protracted development of oligodendrocyte/myelination; MRI morphometry; Sensorimotor and cognitive functions; Typically developing children.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. KRC

Figures

**Fig. 1**
High resolution midsagittal magnetic resonance images (MRI) displaying cerebellar regions of interest (**ROIs**) for morphometric tracing in a10-year-old female (**1A:** sagittal plane; **1 C:** coronal plane) and 23-year-old female (1B: sagittal plane and **1D:** coronal plane). **ROIs** in sagittal plane included anterior **Lobules I-V** that are separated from the posterior **Lobules VI -VII** by **[1]** – Fissure Prima. The **Lobules VI-VII** are separated from Lobule VIII by **[2] –** Fissure Prepyramidalis. **ROIs** in coronal plane (**C and D**) illustrate one of the 12 slices across the brain from the posterior to the anterior pole. The image **1 C** (TDC) and 1D (HAC) illustrate the right hemisphere tracing included into the Total Brain Volume (TBV), with exclusion of structures of posterior fossa and the cerebellum.

**Fig. 2**
Box-plot distribution of age-group contrasts in TBV and cerebellar vermis morphometry. Legend: TBV=Total Brain Volume; TDC = Typically Developing Children; HAC=Healthy Adult Controls * Significant effect at p<0.05.

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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MRI morphometry of the anterior and posterior cerebellar vermis and its relationship to sensorimotor and cognitive functions in children

Affiliations

MRI morphometry of the anterior and posterior cerebellar vermis and its relationship to sensorimotor and cognitive functions in children

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical