Longitudinal MRI template of the baboon brain from birth to adolescence

Developmental trajectory of the prefrontal operculum and the consequences of premature birth.

Comparative and paleo-neurological evidence suggests that the prefrontal operculum (PFO) plays a pivotal role in the emergence of speech abilities in the genus Homo. Using a new release of the developing Human Connectome Project, we examine cortical development in in utero fetuses (21-36 gestational weeks, gw), preterm (26-36 gw) and full-term neonates (37-44 gw). Guided by Evo-Devo principles, we hypothesize that brain regions that evolved most recently (such as the PFO) should also mature latest during ontogeny and be especially vulnerable to premature birth. Our study provides a fine-grained timeline of macroscale sulcal organization and shows that the PFO emerges only at the very end of gestation (41 gw). Prematurity is associated with a one-week delay in global sulcal formation but, paradoxically, with acceleration of PFO emergence by approximately three weeks. These findings refine the normative timeline of cortical folding and offer a framework for identifying atypical PFO organization and potential links with developmental speech-related deficits.

A stereotaxic atlas of primary cortical areas in the developing rat brain from postnatal days 8 to 20

Postnatal brain growth is non-linear, making precise stereotaxic targeting in the developing rat neocortex difficult without age-specific knowledge of cortical area locations. Traditional atlases visualize brain slices in the coronal plane, which can obscure top-down areal boundaries and sub-domains. To address these shortcomings, we created a developmental stereotaxic atlas that maps the neocortex of postnatal day (P) 8, P12, P16, and P20 in Sprague-Dawley and Long-Evans rats onto a coordinate grid. After using a stereotaxic device to create a grid of fluorescent probes, we extracted the brain, flattened neocortical tissue, and stained it for cytochrome oxidase, which is predominantly found in layer IV of primary cortical areas. Reconstructions of the primary somatosensory, auditory, and visual cortices demonstrate high structural reproducibility within each age and strain group. Our atlas captures the location of primary cortical areas at these 4 ages, showing that neocortical expansion is non-isometric, expanding preferentially along the rostral-caudal axis. Finally, we complement these top-down maps by extracting local neocortical surface angles from an existing coronal atlas, enabling proper electrode orientation to be tangential to the developing neocortex. Ultimately, this anatomically verified resource provides a standardized blueprint that eliminates resource-intensive trial-and-error mapping and maximizes experimental reproducibility in developmental systems neuroscience. Significance Statement Targeting specific neocortical areas in developing rats is uniquely challenging because non-linear brain expansion renders scaled adult coordinates inaccurate, while traditional coronal sections obscure top-down areal boundaries. To resolve this, we established a top-down stereotaxic atlas that maps primary sensory cortices onto flattened, cytochrome oxidase-stained tissue across early postnatal development (P8–P20) in both Sprague-Dawley and Long-Evans rats. By combining equidistant coordinate grids with empirical cortical surface angles, this resource provides an accurate, reproducible surgical blueprint. This reference tool eliminates trial-and-error coordinate mapping, reduces animal waste, and maximizes experimental precision for the developmental neuroscience community.

Clinical 2D MRI radiomics for infant brain age and trajectory modeling

Summary Clinical 2D magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the cornerstone for assessing early brain development, yet the lack of a systematic methodology renders the fine-grained and quantitative evaluation of early brain growth underdeveloped. We address this gap using a data-driven radiomics framework that integrates automatic registration, segmentation, and feature extraction for the analysis of 2,893 routine T1-weighted and T2-weighted scans from children aged 0–2 years. The framework yields accurate brain age prediction (mean absolute error = 1.19 months) and pinpoints the “corpus callosum median” (CC-median) as the most critical, biologically relevant predictor. We used the generalized additive model for location, scale, and shape (GAMLSS) to model the normative trajectory of CC-median. This standardized curve robustly differentiates developmental delays from typical peers, achieving an accuracy of 0.96 (for ages 6–24 months). This work establishes a clinically compatible framework, transforming conventional 2D MRI data into a powerful, objective tool for early neurodevelopmental assessment.

of the Corticospinal and Callosal Tracts from Extremely Premature Birth up to 2 Years of Age

VU Research Portal A four-dimensional probabilistic atlas of the human brain

Characterization of Fetal Cortical Development Using Spectral Analysis of Gyrification (SPANGY)

The prenatal period of human brain development is critical for mental health and cognition across the entire lifespan. During this period, the cortex undergoes a dramatic transformation from a smooth lissencephalic surface into an elaborately folded structure, a process whose precise characterization is essential for understanding neurodevelopmental trajectories. This study represents the first application of Spectral Analysis of Gyrification (SPANGY) to a large multi-centric fetal brain MRI dataset (635 subjects, 20–38 weeks gestational age). SPANGY characterizes geometric variations on a surface based on the wavelength of folds, hence, providing a quantitative local description of gyrification at the individual level. Using rigorous normative modeling (GAMLSS) and statistical harmonization (ComBat-GAM), we established age-specific reference trajectories for multi-scale gyrification features (spectral frequency bands). We provide the first ever quantification of the temporally-ordered emergence of cortical folding in successive waves: the earliest-emerging low frequency, deep fissures are progressively superseded by the accelerating expansion of higher frequency folds. The normative curves provide the first step in taking prenatal neurodevelopmental assessment from qualitative inspection into a rigorous statistical inference, creating an objective reference against which deviations from healthy brain growth can be caught earlier, and with greater precision.