A one-stop tractography solution for tracing short-range association fibers in early developmental brain

Motivation: Tracing short-range association fibers (SAFs) in early developmental brains with diffusion-MRI-based tractography is challenging due to smaller brain sizes and less myelination of the white matter (WM) fibers. Few methods can reliably trace SAF in early developmental brain. Goal(s): To reproducibly trace high-fidelity SAFs in infant brains and delineate the maturation of SAFs. Approach: We developed a one-stop tractography solution to reproducibly trace SAFs from infants and young adults through a robust Docker-containerized protocol with cutting-edge short-range tractography algorithm. Results: Heterogeneous SAF clusters in infant and young adult brains were reproducibly reconstructed and their developmental trends were revealed. Impact: The cutting-edge short-range tractography protocol offers important insights into the superficial WM maturation in the early developmental brain. The one-stop cross-platform tool can be used for broader neuroscientific and clinical discoveries on brain development.