MRI signatures of cortical microstructure in human development align with oligodendrocyte cell-type expression
Neuroanatomical changes to the cortex during adolescence have been well documented using MRI, revealing ongoing cortical thinning and volume loss. Recent advances in MRI hardware and biophysical models of tissue informed by diffusion MRI data hold promise for identifying the cellular changes driving these morphological observations. Using ultra-strong gradient MRI, this study quantifies cortical neurite and soma microstructure in typically developing youth. Across domain-specific networks, cortical neurite signal fraction, attributed to neuronal and glial processes, increases with age. The apparent soma radius, attributed to the apparent radius of glial and neuronal cell bodies, decreases with age. Analyses of two independent post-mortem datasets reveal that genes increasing in expression through adolescence are significantly enriched in cortical oligodendrocytes and Layer 5-6 neurons. In our study, we show spatial and temporal alignment of oligodendrocyte cell-type gene expression with neurite and soma microstructural changes, suggesting that ongoing cortical myelination processes drive adolescent cortical development.
Authors
- Derek Kenton Jones (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4409-8049)
- Maxime Chamberland
- Sila Genc (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4624-7071)
- Isobel Ward (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7724-567X)
- Gareth Ball (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3509-1435)
- Marco Palombo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4892-7967)
- Erika P. Raven (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9567-5259)
- Joseph Yuan‐Mou Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4081-7157)
- Chantal M. W. Tax (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7480-8817)
Institutions
- Royal Children's Hospital (AU)
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- University Medical Center Utrecht (NL)
- University of Bristol (GB)
- Murdoch Children's Research Institute (AU)
- New York University (US)
- Cardiff University (GB)
- Eindhoven University of Technology (NL)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-04-07
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58604-w
- Citations
- 6
- Primary Topic
- Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 8.16
Funders
- Wellcome
- Wellcome Trust
- Children's Hospital Foundation
- UK Research and Innovation
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
- National Institutes of Health
- Medical Research Council
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
- National Health and Medical Research Council
- National Institute on Aging
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development