Lateralization of brain volume in term newborns based on MR structural imaging

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BAI Pengxuan FENG Yuying ZHU Linlin LIU Congcong XIA Yuwei SHI Feng LI Xianjun JIN Chao YANG Jian ZHAO Huifang

Cite this article as: BAI P X, FENG Y Y, ZHU L L, et al. Lateralization of brain volume in term newborns based on MR structural imaging[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2024, 15(9): 18-22, 28. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2024.09.004.

Abstract

[Abstract] Objective To explore the volumetric lateralization characteristics in 87 distinct brain regions of term newborns and the correlation between lateralization and neurobehavior, utilizing T1-weighted MR structural imaging.Materials and Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on 64 healthy full-term newborns who underwent cranial MRI (3D T1WI) at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University from November 2010 to September 2017. The subjects had an average gestational age of (39.46±1.17) weeks, male/female distribution of 43/21, and average postnatal age of (10.94±6.90) days. Employing deep learning segmentation techniques based on the Developing Human Connectome Project (dHCP) template within the uAI Research Portal, we acquired volumetric data for 87 neonatal brain regions. Subsequently, the lateralization index (LI) was computed as: LI=100×(VL-VR)/(VL+VR), (V: volume). Statistical analysis involved t-tests and Pearson's partial correlation to explore the volumetric laterality patterns across brain regions and the correlation between LI and neurobehavior.Results Analysis revealed left-sided bias (LI>0) in brain region volumes during the neonatal phase, primarily located in the occipital lobe, thalamus, caudate nucleus, lateral ventricles and cerebellum. Conversely, right-sided bias (LI<0) mainly distributed in the hippocampus, cingulate gyrus, temporal lobe and insula white matter. Among them, there was a correlation between LI and active muscle tone scores in occipital white matter (r=-0.303, P=0.015), occipital gray matter (r=-0.315, P=0.012), hippocampus (r=-0.332, P<0.01) and posterior cingulate white matter (r=-0.263, P=0.035). However, no significant correlation was found between LI and behavioral ability scores in any brain region.Conclusions The neonatal period manifests substantial lateralization characteristics in brain region volumes, characterized by a widespread distribution of lateralized brain volumes and a predominantly right-sided bias. Meanwhile, active muscle tone predominantly localizes to the right hemisphere in both gray and white matter of the occipital lobe, the hippocampus, and the posterior white matter of the cingulate gyrus.

[Keywords] full-term neonates；structural asymmetry；active muscle tone；magnetic resonance imaging

Contributor Information

BAI Pengxuan^{1,
2}   FENG Yuying^{1,
2}   ZHU Linlin^{1,
2}   LIU Congcong^{1,
2}   XIA Yuwei³   SHI Feng³   LI Xianjun^{1,
2}   JIN Chao^{1,
2}   YANG Jian^{1,
2*}   ZHAO Huifang^{1,
2*}

¹ Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710061, China

² Shaanxi Engineering Research Center of Computational lmaging and Medical lntelligence, Xi'an 710061, China

³ Department of Research and Development, Shanghai United Imaging Intelligence Co., Ltd., Shanghai 200232, China

Corresponding author: ZHAO H F, E-mail: zhaohf810@163.com YANG J, E-mail: yj1118@mail.xjtu.edu.cn

Conflicts of interest None.

Publication Information

Received 2023-08-29

Accepted 2024-03-15

DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2024.09.004

Text

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