Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Brain Development

Abstract

Abstract Insight into human brain development is of great clinical importance, as many neurological and neurobehavioral disorders have their origin in early structural and functional cerebral organization and maturation. Cortical folding and establishment of underlying connectivity characterize important steps of early human brain development. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), combined with advanced image analysis tools are powerful techniques to explore the structural basis of normal and abnormal brain development in cortex and cerebral white matter. This chapter discusses methodological aspects of DTI in the developing brain, diffusion characteristics of the developing brain, the application of advanced image analysis tools for the evaluation of the developing brain, and the diffusion characteristics of injury in the developing brain, developmental plasticity, and anatomo-functional characteristics of developmental disorders.