Abstract
Background
The white matter (WM) connectome is important for cognitive development and intelligence
and is altered in neuropsychiatric illnesses. Little is known about how the WM connectome
develops or its relationship to IQ in early childhood.
Methods
The development of node centrality in the WM connectome was studied in a longitudinal
cohort of 226 (123 female) children from the University of North Carolina Early Brain
Development Study. Structural and diffusion-weighted images were acquired after birth
and at 1, 2, 4, and 6 years, and IQ was assessed at 6 years. Eigenvector centrality,
betweenness centrality, and the global graph metrics of global efficiency, small worldness,
and modularity were determined at each age.
Results
The greatest developmental change in eigenvector centrality and betweenness centrality
occurred during the first year of life, with relative stability between ages 1 and
6 years. Most of the high-centrality hubs at age 6 were also high-centrality hubs
at 1 year, and many were already high-centrality hubs at birth. There were generally
small but significant changes in global efficiency and modularity from birth to 6
years, while small worldness increased between 2 and 4 years. Individual node centrality
was not significantly correlated with IQ at 6 years.
Conclusions
Node centrality in the WM connectome is established very early in childhood and is
relatively stable from age 1 to 6 years. Many high-centrality hubs are established
before birth, and most are present by age 1.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: September 23, 2022
Accepted:
September 9,
2022
Received in revised form:
September 7,
2022
Received:
February 8,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Journal Pre-ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2022 Society of Biological Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.