Longitudinal development of the cerebellum in human infants during the first 800 days

• Published in: Cell reports (Cambridge) Vol. 42; no. 4; p. 112281
• Main Authors: Wang, Ya, Chen, Liangjun, Wu, Zhengwang, Li, Tengfei, Sun, Yue, Cheng, Jiale, Zhu, Hongtu, Lin, Weili, Wang, Li, Huang, Wenhua, Li, Gang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 25.04.2023; Elsevier
• Subjects: CP: Neuroscience; developmental trajectory; infant cerebellum; MRI; percentile score; volumetric development; percentile score; volumetric development; infant cerebellum; developmental trajectory; MRI; CP: Neuroscience
• ISSN: 2211-1247; 2211-1247
• DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2023.112281

Revealing early dynamic development of the normative cerebellar structures contributes to exploring cerebellum-related neurodevelopmental disorders. Here, leveraging infant-tailored cerebellar image processing techniques, we studied the dynamic volumetric developmental trajectories of cerebellum and 27 cerebellar sub-regions and their relationships with behavioral scores based on 511 high-resolution structural MRI scans during the first 800 postnatal days. The ratio of the entire cerebellum to the intracranial volume increases rapidly at first and then peaks at 13 months after birth. Both the absolute and relative volumes of most cerebellar sub-structures exhibit rapid increase at first, then the relative volumes decrease slightly after arriving at peaks (except for X lobules). Each lobule depicts larger absolute volume in males than in females. The within-subject variation of the cerebellar volumetric percentile score is generally stable. The volumetric development of several lobules (e.g., V, Crus I, and Crus II) has a significantly positive correlation with fine motor skills during the age range examined. [Display omitted] •Absolute and relative volumes of cerebellar sub-regions increase rapidly at first•Cerebellar relative volumes decrease slightly after arriving at peaks•Within-subject variation of volumetric percentile score is generally stable•Volumetric developments of sub-regions are correlated with fine motor skills Wang et al. characterize cerebellar volumetric developmental patterns within the first 800 postnatal days in 27 sub-regions, of which lobules V, Crus I, Crus II, and IX in the left cerebellum, lobules Crus I, Crus II, VIIIA, and IX in the right cerebellum, and vermis IX exhibit significantly positive correlations with fine motor skill development.