Er. Sowell et Tl. Jernigan, Further MRI evidence of late brain maturation: Limbic volume increases andchanging asymmetries during childhood and adolescence, DEV NEUROPS, 14(4), 1998, pp. 599-617
In this article, we extend earlier findings of age-related changes in brain
morphology on magnetic resonance images to include measurements of the mes
ial temporal lobe as well as asymmetry measures in regional cortical and su
bcortical structures. The earlier sample was increased to include 57 childr
en and young adults aged 8 to 35 years. The participants were studied using
quantitative image analytic techniques. Estimated volumes of limbic and an
terior diencephalic structures increased significantly with age; although i
nferior lateral cortex, superior cortex, caudate nuclei, thalamus, and lent
icular nuclei all decreased significantly with age. Of the 7 regions measur
ed, only the lenticular nucleus and anterior diencephalon showed significan
t changes in asymmetry with increasing age. It is hypothesized that some of
these changes may be related to the changing levels of gonadal steroid hor
mones known to occur during this age range. They may also have important im
plications for the study of late developing higher cognitive functions and
the loss of behavioral plasticity.