Morphometric Development of Pediatric Auditory Centers: A Retrospective Analysis

The medial geniculate body and transverse temporal gyrus are important during infancy since significant development occurs in auditory function. The main aim of this study was to evaluate shape differences of the medial geniculate body and morphometric parameters of the auditory cortex between different age and gender groups. A total number of 525 children's axial magnetic resonance image series were included in the presented study. These images were divided into three groups: early childhood (1-6 years of age), middle childhood (6-12 years of age), and teenage (12-18 years of age). Statistical shape analyses of the right and left medial geniculate bodies were examined by a Generalized Procrustes Analysis. Morphometric properties of the auditory cortex were evaluated using vol2Brain and DeepThalamus services. Our results showed significant enlargement of the shape of the medial geniculate body among age groups, especially from the early childhood term to the middle childhood term. Moreover, morphometric parameters of the auditory cortex had significant differences in the early childhood group compared to other age groups. It was seen that men's auditory cortex tended to be wider. These results demonstrated both shape changes in the medial geniculate body and changes in the morphometric properties of the auditory cortex from childhood to adolescence and changes between genders. Further clinical studies based on our results may be used to gather more detailed information about hearing disorders and neuronal development.