Mapping longitudinal development of local cortical gyrification in infants from birth to 2 years of age

Human cortical folding is believed to correlate with cognitive functions. This likely correlation may have something to do with why abnormalities of cortical folding have been found in many neurodevelopmental disorders. However, little is known about how cortical gyrification, the cortical folding process, develops in the first 2 years of life, a period of dynamic and regionally heterogeneous cortex growth. In this article, we show how we developed a novel infant-specific method for mapping longitudinal development of local cortical gyrification in infants. By using this method, via 219 longitudinal 3T magnetic resonance imaging scans from 73 healthy infants, we systemically and quantitatively characterized for the first time the longitudinal cortical global gyrification index (GI) and local GI (LGI) development in the first 2 years of life. We found that the cortical GI had age-related and marked development, with 16.1% increase in the first year and 6.6% increase in the second year. We also found marked and regionally heterogeneous cortical LGI development in the first 2 years of life, with the high-growth regions located in the association cortex, whereas the low-growth regions located in sensorimotor, auditory, and visual cortices. Meanwhile, we also showed that LGI growth in most cortical regions was positively correlated with the brain volume growth, which is particularly significant in the prefrontal cortex in the first year. In addition, we observed gender differences in both cortical GIs and LGIs in the first 2 years, with the males having larger GIs than females at 2 years of age. This study provides valuable information on normal cortical folding development in infancy and early childhood.

Developmental topography of cortical thickness during infancy

During the first 2 postnatal years, the human brain undergoes dynamic growth and shows rapid expansions in behavioral and cognitive abilities. Charting the developmental patterns of cortical thickness in healthy infants is important for understanding many neurodevelopmental disorders, which unfortunately remains unexplored. Therefore, we investigate the infantile developmental regionalization of cortical thickness, which describes regions naturally formed during the dynamic development of cortical thickness and differs markedly from conventional anatomical parcellations. Meanwhile, this study delineates the inverted U-shaped developmental trajectory and peak age of cortical thickness, which clarifies the previous ambiguity on the peaking time of cortical thickness during early brain development.

During the first 2 postnatal years, cortical thickness of the human brain develops dynamically and spatially heterogeneously and likely peaks between 1 and 2 y of age. The striking development renders this period critical for later cognitive outcomes and vulnerable to early neurodevelopmental disorders. However, due to the difficulties in longitudinal infant brain MRI acquisition and processing, our knowledge still remains limited on the dynamic changes, peak age, and spatial heterogeneities of cortical thickness during infancy. To fill this knowledge gap, in this study, we discover the developmental regionalization of cortical thickness, i.e., developmentally distinct regions, each of which is composed of a set of codeveloping cortical vertices, for better understanding of the spatiotemporal heterogeneities of cortical thickness development. We leverage an infant-dedicated computational pipeline, an advanced multivariate analysis method (i.e., nonnegative matrix factorization), and a densely sampled longitudinal dataset with 210 serial MRI scans from 43 healthy infants, with each infant being scheduled to have 7 longitudinal scans at around 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 mo of age. Our results suggest that, during the first 2 y, the whole-brain average cortical thickness increases rapidly and reaches a plateau at about 14 mo of age and then decreases at a slow pace thereafter. More importantly, each discovered region is structurally and functionally meaningful and exhibits a distinctive developmental pattern, with several regions peaking at varied ages while others keep increasing in the first 2 postnatal years. Our findings provide valuable references and insights for early brain development.

Longitudinal Heschl's gyrus growth during childhood and adolescence in typical development and autism

Heightened auditory sensitivity and atypical auditory processing are common in autism. Functional studies suggest abnormal neural response and hemispheric activation to auditory stimuli, yet the neurodevelopment underlying atypical auditory function in autism is unknown. In this study, we model longitudinal volumetric growth of Heschl's gyrus gray matter and white matter during childhood and adolescence in 40 individuals with autism and 17 typically developing participants. Up to three time points of magnetic resonance imaging data, collected on average every 2.5 years, were examined from individuals 3-12 years of age at the time of their first scan. Consistent with previous cross-sectional studies, no group differences were found in Heschl's gyrus gray matter volume or asymmetry. However, reduced longitudinal gray matter volumetric growth was found in the right Heschl's gyrus in autism. Reduced longitudinal white matter growth in the left hemisphere was found in the right-handed autism participants. Atypical Heschl's gyrus white matter volumetric growth was found bilaterally in the autism individuals with a history of delayed onset of spoken language. Heightened auditory sensitivity, obtained from the Sensory Profile, was associated with reduced volumetric gray matter growth in the right hemisphere. Our longitudinal analyses revealed dynamic gray and white matter changes in Heschl's gyrus throughout childhood and adolescence in both typical development and autism.

Spatiotemporal patterns of cortical fiber density in developing infants, and their relationship with cortical thickness

The intrinsic relationship between the convoluted cortical folding and the underlying complex whiter matter fiber connections has received increasing attention in current neuroscience studies. Recently, the axonal pushing hypothesis of cortical folding has been proposed to explain the finding that the axonal fibers (derived from diffusion tensor images) connecting to gyri are significantly denser than those connecting to sulci in both adult human and non-human primate brains. However, it is still unclear about the spatiotemporal patterns of the fiber density on the cortical surface of the developing infant brains from birth to 2 years of age, which is the most dynamic phase of postnatal brain development. In this paper, for the first time, we systemically characterized the spatial distributions and longitudinal developmental trajectories of the cortical fiber density in the first 2 postnatal years, via joint analysis of longitudinal structural and diffusion tensor imaging from 33 healthy infants. We found that the cortical fiber density increases dramatically in the first year and then keeps relatively stable in the second year. Moreover, we revealed that the cortical fiber density on gyral regions was significantly higher at 0, 1, and 2 years of age than that on sulcal regions in the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes. Meanwhile, the cortical fiber density was strongly positively correlated with cortical thickness at several three-hinge junction regions of gyri. These results significantly advanced our understanding of the intrinsic relationship between the cortical folding, cortical thickness and axonal wiring during early postnatal stages.

Postnatal development of the hippocampus in the Rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta): a longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging study

Nonhuman primates are widely used models to investigate the neural substrates of human behavior, including the development of higher cognitive and affective function. Due to their neuroanatomical and behavioral homologies with humans, the rhesus macaque monkey (Macaca mulatta) provides an excellent animal model in which to characterize the maturation of brain structures from birth through adulthood and into senescence. To evaluate hippocampal development in rhesus macaques, structural magnetic resonance imaging scans were obtained longitudinally at 9 time points between 1 week and 260 weeks (5 years) of age on 24 rhesus macaque monkeys (12 males, 12 females). In our sample, the hippocampus reaches 50% of its adult volume by 13 weeks of age and reaches an adult volume by 52 weeks in both males and females. The hippocampus appears to be slightly larger at 3 years than at 5 years of age. Male rhesus macaques have larger hippocampi than females from 8 weeks onward by approximately 5%. Interestingly, there was increased variability in hemispheric asymmetry for hippocampus volumes at younger ages than at later ages. These data provide a comprehensive evaluation of the longitudinal development of male and female rhesus macaque hippocampus across development from 1 week to 5 years of age.

Longitudinal identification of clinically distinct neurophenotypes in young children with fragile X syndrome

Fragile X syndrome (FXS), due to mutations of the FMR1 gene, is the most common known inherited cause of developmental disability. The cognitive, behavioral, and neurological phenotypes observed in affected individuals can vary considerably, making it difficult to predict outcomes and determine the need for interventions. We sought to examine early structural brain growth as a potential marker for identification of clinically meaningful subgroups. Participants included 42 very young boys with FXS who completed a T1-weighted anatomical MRI and cognitive/behavioral assessment at two longitudinal time points, with mean ages of 2.89 y and 4.91 y. Topological data analysis (TDA), an unsupervised approach to multivariate pattern analysis, was applied to the longitudinal anatomical data to identify coherent but heretofore unknown subgroups. TDA revealed two large subgroups within the study population based solely on longitudinal MRI data. Post hoc comparisons of cognition, adaptive functioning, and autism severity scores between these groups demonstrated that one group was consistently higher functioning on all measures at both time points, with pronounced and significant unidirectional differences (P < 0.05 for time point 1 and/or time point 2 for each measure). These results support the existence of two longitudinally defined, neuroanatomically distinct, and clinically relevant phenotypes among boys with FXS. If confirmed by additional analyses, such information may be used to predict outcomes and guide design of targeted therapies. Furthermore, TDA of longitudinal anatomical MRI data may represent a useful method for reliably and objectively defining subtypes within other neuropsychiatric disorders.

Can we predict subject-specific dynamic cortical thickness maps during infancy from birth?

Understanding the early dynamic development of the human cerebral cortex remains a challenging problem. Cortical thickness, as one of the most important morphological attributes of the cerebral cortex, is a sensitive indicator for both normal neurodevelopment and neuropsychiatric disorders, but its early postnatal development remains largely unexplored. In this study, we investigate a key question in neurodevelopmental science: can we predict the future dynamic development of cortical thickness map in an individual infant based on its available MRI data at birth? If this is possible, we might be able to better model and understand the early brain development and also early detect abnormal brain development during infancy. To this end, we develop a novel learning-based method, called Dynamically-Assembled Regression Forest (DARF), to predict the development of the cortical thickness map during the first postnatal year, based on neonatal MRI features. We applied our method to 15 healthy infants and predicted their cortical thickness maps at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months of age, with respectively mean absolute errors of 0.209 mm, 0.332 mm, 0.340 mm, and 0.321 mm. Moreover, we found that the prediction precision is region-specific, with high precision in the unimodal cortex and relatively low precision in the high-order association cortex, which may be associated with their differential developmental patterns. Additional experiments also suggest that using more early time points for prediction can further significantly improve the prediction accuracy. Hum Brain Mapp 38:2865-2874, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Connections between Mathematics and Reading Development: Numerical Cognition Mediates Relations between Foundational Competencies and Later Academic Outcomes

We examined longitudinal relations between 1^st-grade cognitive predictors (early nonverbal reasoning, processing speed, listening comprehension, working memory, calculation skill, word-problem solving, word-reading fluency, attentive behavior, and numerical cognition) and 2^nd-grade academic outcomes (calculations, word-problem solving, and word reading) in 370 children (M _age = 6.55 years, SD _age = 0.33 years at the start of the study) who were identified as at-risk or not-at-risk for mathematics disability. Path analysis mediation models revealed that numerical cognition, assessed at an intermediary timepoint, mediated the effects of processing speed, working memory, calculation skill, word-problem solving, and attentive behavior on all 3 outcomes. Findings indicate that multiple early domain-general cognitive abilities are related to later mathematics and reading outcomes and that numerical cognition processes, which may track ease of forming symbol-concept associations, predict later performance across both academic domains.

Are multidisciplinary neurodevelopmental profiles of children born very preterm at age 2 relevant to their long-term development? A preliminary study

To identify distinctive multidisciplinary neurodevelopmental profiles of relatively healthy children born very preterm (VPT) and describe the longitudinal course of these profiles up to age 10. At 2 years of corrected age, 84 children born VPT underwent standardized testing for cognitive, language, speech, motor, behavioral, and auditory nerve function. These data were submitted to factor and cluster analysis. Sixty-one of these children underwent cognitive, language, and behavioral assessment again at age 10. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze longitudinal trajectories for each profile. Four neurodevelopmental profiles were identified at age 2. Profile 1 children (n = 22/26%) had excellent cognitive-language-motor function, normal behavioral and auditory nerve function, but showed an unexpected severe decline up to age 10. Profile 2 children (n = 16/19%) had very low behavioral function, low cognitive-language-motor function, and accelerated auditory nerve function. Their scores remained low up until age 10. Profile 3 children (n = 17/20%) had delayed auditory nerve function, low behavioral function, and slightly lower cognitive-language-motor function. They showed the most increasing trajectory. Profile 4 children (n = 29/35%) had very low cognitive-language-motor function, normal behavioral and auditory nerve function, but showed wide variation in their trajectory. Our preliminary study showed that a multidisciplinary profile-oriented approach may be important in children born VPT to improve counseling and provide targeted treatment for at risk children. High performers at age 2 may not be expected to maintain their favorable development. Behavioral problems might negatively impact language development. Delayed auditory nerve function might represent a slow start and catch-up development.

The longitudinal development of students' well-being in adolescence: The role of perceived teacher autonomy support

Although a decline in adolescents' well-being has repeatedly been reported, longitudinal evidence for this development is rare and time-varying factors like teacher autonomy support that could be associated with this trend have sparsely been investigated. Therefore, the present study examined how the temporal development of perceived autonomy support from their German language arts teachers is related to changes in four different facets of students' well-being. Longitudinal data from 3446 adolescents from Germany (N_Schools  = 178) on five measurement points (Grades 5-9) were analyzed using latent growth curve models. Satisfaction with school, enjoyment of school, and self-rated health decreased over time, while social integration remained stable. Perceived teacher autonomy support also declined between Grades 5 and 9. Furthermore, baseline levels of perceived teacher autonomy support and facets of well-being were positively related. Finally and most importantly, our results indicated that changes in perceived teacher autonomy support were positively associated with the development of satisfaction with school, enjoyment of school, and self-rated health, but not social integration. The findings suggest that perceived teacher autonomy support plays an important role in the development of students' well-being in adolescence.

A Longitudinal Study of Bone Mineral Accrual during Growth in Competitive Premenarcheal Rhythmic Gymnasts

The purpose of this investigation was to study whether prolonged competitive rhythmic gymnastics training influenced bone mineral accrual in premenarcheal girls. Eighty-nine girls (45 rhythmic gymnasts [RG] and 44 untrained controls [UC]) between 7 and 9 years of age were recruited and measured annually for four years (not all participants were measured at every occasion). Dual energy x-ray absorptiometry was used to assess the development of whole body (WB), femoral neck (FN) and lumbar spine (LS) bone mineral content (BMC). In addition, body composition, blood adipokine and jumping performance characteristics were obtained. For longitudinal analyses, hierarchical mixed-effects models were constructed to predict differences in the development of WB, FN and LS BMC between RG and UC groups, while accounting for differences in body composition, blood adipokine and jumping performance values. It appeared that from 8 years of age, RG had lower (p < 0.05) fat mass and leptin values, and higher (p < 0.05) jumping performance measures in comparison with UC girls. Hierarchical mixed-effects models demonstrated that RG had 71.9 ± 12.0, 0.23 ± 0.11 and 1.39 ± 0.42 g more (p < 0.05) WB, FN and LS BMC, respectively, in comparison with UC girls. In addition, WB, FN and LS BMC increased more (p < 0.05) between 7 to 12 years of age in RG girls in comparison with UC. In conclusion, these findings suggest that the prolonged exposure to competitive rhythmic gymnastics trainings in premenarcheal girls is associated with greater bone mineral accrual despite lower body fat mass and leptin values.

Study satisfaction among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic: Longitudinal development and personal-contextual predictors

The COVID-19 pandemic challenges the well-being and academic success of many students. Yet, little is known about students' study satisfaction during the COVID-19 pandemic, a multilayered construct which accounts for students' subjective cognitive well-being and academic success. Besides, previous studies on study satisfaction are mostly cross-sectional and hardly consider the distinct subdimensions of this construct. Therefore, our main goal in this study was to shed light on the understudied development of the subdimensions of study satisfaction (i.e., satisfaction with study content, conditions of studying, and coping with study-related stress) in two semesters amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, we examined how particular personal (i.e., gender, age, GPA, intrinsic motivation, motivational cost, and academic procrastination) and contextual (i.e., loneliness) factors are related to these subdimensions. We conducted two panel studies with convenience and purposeful samples of university students in Germany (N study1 = 837; N study2 = 719). Participants responded online to questions on each of the subdimensions of study satisfaction at the beginning, middle, and end of each semester but responded to measures of personal and contextual factors only at the beginning of each semester. In both studies, manifest growth curve models indicated a decrease in all subdimensions of study satisfaction as the semester progressed. Generally, gender (male) and intrinsic motivation were positive predictors but age (younger students), motivational cost, and loneliness were negative predictors of different subdimensions of study satisfaction - particularly satisfaction with study content. Overall, motivational costs and loneliness were the most consistent predictors of all subdimensions of study satisfaction across both studies. Our findings provide support for the understanding that study satisfaction could diminish in the face of challenging situations such as in this pandemic. The present study also highlights certain personal and contextual factors that relate to study satisfaction and calls for intensive research into the multidimensional construct of study satisfaction.

Working memory of school-aged children on the autism spectrum: Predictors for longitudinal growth

LAY ABSTRACT

Working memory is an important skill for school success, and it involves holding information in our memory while using it to solve complex problems at the same time. Autistic children often have difficulty with working memory. Because working memory development can be easily influenced by many factors from a young age, it is important to find factors that help with autistic children's development. This study tested the factors that are related to autistic children's working memory when they start kindergarten and the factors that can help with rapid improvement throughout their elementary school. We used a nationally representative data set that followed the same group of children from kindergarten to fifth grade. We found that autistic students from backgrounds with more resources and students with advanced learning approaches such as being organized, being excited to learn, and paying careful attention to their work, started school with strong working memory. Autistic students with advanced learning approaches continued to make rapid improvements during the first 3 years, and then their growth slowed down during the last 3 years. Autistic students who had a good relationship with their teachers made rapid improvements during the last 3 years of their elementary school. In addition, autistic children who struggled with working memory upon school entry were more likely to receive special education services at school. These findings suggest that we need effective ways to teach young autistic children important learning-related behaviors from a very young age through the school system, and teachers must prioritize building positive relationships with their students.

A COMPUTATIONAL METHOD FOR LONGITUDINAL MAPPING OF ORIENTATION-SPECIFIC EXPANSION OF CORTICAL SURFACE AREA IN INFANTS

The dynamic expansion of the human cortical surface during infancy is largely driven by the increase of surface area in two orthogonal directions: 1) the expansion parallel to the folding orientation (i.e., increasing the lengths of folds) and 2) the expansion perpendicular to the folding orientation (i.e., increasing the depths of folds). The knowledge on this would help us better understand the cortical growth mechanisms and provide important insights into neurodevelopmental disorders, but still remains scarce, due to the lack of dedicated computational methods. To address this issue, we propose a novel method for longitudinal mapping of orientation-specific expansion of cortical surface area in these two orthogonal directions during early infancy. We apply our method to 30 healthy infants, and for the first time reveal the orientation-specific longitudinal cortical surface expansion maps during the first postnatal year.

Longitudinal development of different dimensions of perfectionism in undergraduate medical students with respect to their medical school admission procedure

Objective: The concept of perfectionism comprises high standards of performance as needed in medicine, but also concerns about making mistakes and dealing with social reactions about not being perfect. Perfectionism is associated with motivation and deep learning strategies but high expression of perfectionism has been found to be associated with symptoms of stress and anxiety in students. We aim to gain insights into the longitudinal development of different dimensions of perfectionism in medical students with respect to their way of medical school admission. Methods: At the Medical Faculty of Hamburg University, 167 undergraduate medical students completed validated questionnaires (MPS-H and MPS-F) of different dimensions of perfectionism and sociodemographic data including medical school admission procedures, personality traits (BSI-10 and GSE), and symptoms of depression and anxiety (PHQ-9 and GAD-7) at the start of their first year and at half term of their second year. Results: On average, after controlling for baseline and age, a significant decrease (p≤0.05) in Self-Oriented Perfectionism was found during the first two years in students who were admitted after a waiting period (M: -12.57; 95% CI: [-21.94 - -3.35]), by other ways of medical school entrance (M: -6.36; 95% CI: [-12.71 - -0.02]), by multiple mini-interviews (HAM-Int) (M: -5.52; 95% CI: [-9.90 - -1.14]), and by a natural science test (HAM-Nat) (M: -3.41; 95% CI: [-6.71 - -0.11]. Waiting period students also showed a significant longitudinal decline in the scale Personal Standards (M: -4.62; 95% CI: [-8.04 - -1.21]. Conclusions: Since medical students from all admission groups except from the high school degree group showed a significant longitudinal decrease in Self-Oriented Perfectionism, high levels of aspects of perfectionism associated with intrinsic motivation or deep learning strategies could be included medical school admission processes. Additionally, particular attention needs to be paid not to induce a loss of intrinsic motivation or deep learning strategies during undergraduate medical education.

Social pain is associated with altered developmental trajectories of connectivity among the triple network model of psychopathology

Childhood and adolescence are sensitive periods for the refinement of increasingly complex executive and social functions. A particularly important skill is the ability to navigate and interpret interpersonal relationships, which is reflected in part by the maturation of distributed resting networks. However, the relationships between negative social perceptions in youth and long-term alterations in between-network connectivity are limited. To partially address this gap, we utilized longitudinal resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (N = 93) with social pain measures from the NIH Toolbox Emotion Battery to determine the links between negative social perceptions on the trajectory of connectivity between the salience, frontoparietal, and default mode networks in the triple network model of psychopathology. Higher scores of perceived hostility, but not perceived rejection, tended to increase functional connectivity between the salience and both frontoparietal and default mode networks over time. These results suggest that more direct forms of threat (hostility) may be more impactful than rejection (limited desired social interactions), highlighting the importance of a dimensional approach to understanding developmental trajectories. While these connectivity changes align with several aberrant connectivity signatures observed across mental health disorders, these phenotypes are not pathognomonic of psychopathology and may reflect adaptive mechanisms in the context of social adversity.

Learning to read Chinese promotes two cortico-subcortical pathways: The development of thalamo-occipital and fronto-striatal circuits

Learning to read may result in network reorganization in the developing brain. The thalamus and striatum are two important subcortical structures involved in learning to read. It remains unclear whether the thalamus and striatum may form two independent cortico-subcortical reading pathways during reading acquisition. In this prospective longitudinal study, we aimed to identify whether there may be two independent cortico-subcortical reading pathways involving the thalamus and striatum and to examine the longitudinal predictions between these two cortico-subcortical pathways and reading development in school-age children using cross-lagged panel modeling. A total of 334 children aged 6-12 years completed two reading assessments and resting functional imaging scans at approximately 12-month intervals. The results showed that there were two independent cortico-subcortical pathways, the thalamo-occipital and fronto-striatal circuits. The former may be part of a visual pathway and was predicted longitudinally by reading ability, and the prediction was stronger in children in lower grades and weaker in children in higher grades. The latter may be part of a cognitive pathway related to attention, memory, and reasoning, which was bidirectionally predicted with reading ability, and the predictive effect gradually increasing with reading development. These results extend previous findings on the relationship between functional connectivity and reading competence in children, highlighting the dynamic relationships between the thalamo-occipital and fronto-striatal circuits and reading acquisition.

A narrative literature review of white matter microstructure in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis

Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder characterized by widespread white matter (WM) alterations, manifesting as neurodevelopmental deficits and dysconnectivity abnormalities. Over the past two decades, studies have focused on the clinical high-risk (CHR) stage of psychosis and have yielded fruitful information on WM abnormalities that exist prior to the full onset of psychosis, shedding light on biological mechanisms underlying psychosis development. This review presents a summary of current findings on cross-sectional and longitudinal WM alterations in individuals with CHR and their links to clinical symptoms and neurocognitive dysfunction. Next, we review the utilization of WM characterization in predicting clinical outcomes. Taken together, the literature suggests the clinical significance of WM characteristics and their great potential in predicting the conversion to psychosis, despite some methodological and conceptual challenges that remain to be addressed in future studies. Future CHR research would greatly benefit from utilizing WM to guide pharmacological and non-pharmacological targeted treatments, optimize clinical prediction models, and enable more accurate clinical care.

LONGITUDINAL MULTI-SCALE MAPPING OF INFANT CORTICAL FOLDING USING SPHERICAL WAVELETS

The dynamic development of brain cognition and motor functions during infancy are highly associated with the rapid changes of the convoluted cortical folding. However, little is known about how the cortical folding, which can be characterized on different scales, develops in the first two postnatal years. In this paper, we propose a curvature-based multi-scale method using spherical wavelets to map the complicated longitudinal changes of cortical folding during infancy. Specifically, we first decompose the cortical curvature map, which encodes the cortical folding information, into multiple spatial-frequency scales, and then measure the scale-specific wavelet power at 6 different scales as quantitative indices of cortical folding degree. We apply this method on 219 longitudinal MR images from 73 healthy infants at 0, 1, and 2 years of age. We reveal that the changing patterns of cortical folding are both scale-specific and region-specific. Particularly, at coarser spatial-frequency levels, the majority of the primary folds flatten out, while at finer spatial-frequency levels, the majority of the minor folds become more convoluted. This study provides valuable insights into the longitudinal changes of infant cortical folding.

Developmental plasticity of the structural network of the occipital cortex in congenital blindness

The occipital cortex is the visual processing center in the mammalian brain. An unanswered scientific question pertains to the impact of congenital visual deprivation on the development of various profiles within the occipital network. To address this issue, we recruited 30 congenitally blind participants (8 children and 22 adults) as well as 31 sighted participants (10 children and 21 adults). Our investigation focused on identifying the gray matter regions and white matter connections within the occipital cortex, alongside behavioral measures, that demonstrated different developmental patterns between blind and sighted individuals. We discovered significant developmental changes in the gray matter regions and white matter connections of the occipital cortex among blind individuals from childhood to adulthood, in comparison with sighted individuals. Moreover, some of these structures exhibited cognitive functional reorganization. Specifically, in blind adults, the posterior occipital regions (left calcarine fissure and right middle occipital gyrus) showed reorganization of tactile perception, and the forceps major tracts were reorganized for braille reading. These plastic changes in blind individuals may be attributed to experience-dependent neuronal apoptosis, pruning, and myelination. These findings provide valuable insights into the longitudinal neuroanatomical and cognitive functional plasticity of the occipital network following long-term visual deprivation.

Young offenders in forensic institutions in the Netherlands after committing serious crimes: Contribution of mandatory treatment and reduction of reincarceration

BACKGROUND

In the Netherlands, young offenders who have been convicted of a particularly serious offence may be subjected to a so-called 'Placement in an Institution for Juveniles' (PIJ) measure if they are considered to pose a high ongoing risk to public safety. They form a rarely studied distinct group. Treatment in specialist forensic custodial institutions for young people (FYCI) is an intervention of last resort and costly. The most serious young offenders tend to be the hardest to rehabilitate while preventing further offending. Treatment is focussed on reducing risk of harm as well as improving health and other protective factors.

AIMS

To explore the contribution of treatment in an FYCI under a forensic treatment order-the PIJ-measure-to the reduction of risk of reoffending.

METHODS

In a pre-post intervention study, the Juvenile Forensic Profile (JFP) was used to score complete case files of 178 young offenders at the start and end of their placement in an FYCI under the PIJ-measure, 59% of those serving between the years 2013 and 2016 inclusive. The JFP covers risk and protective factors in seven domains encompassing criminal behaviour, family, environment, risk factors, psychopathology, psychology and behaviour during incarceration. Change or stability in scores was tested against reincarceration within 2 years of PIJ-measure completion.

RESULTS

Impulse control and alcohol and drug use problems showed the greatest improvements. Behaviour that deteriorates during the stay is primarily related to obtaining more autonomy during reintegration efforts, including furlough. Reincarceration in the 2 years of community follow-up was unusual (13.5%). The two main variables associated with reincarceration were problematic behaviour during the pre-discharge year and lack of behavioural improvement during treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Outcomes of mandatory treatment in this group of serious young offenders have not previously been studied in a rigorous pre-post intervention study design. We found evidence of an overall tendency to improvement over time in mental state and social skills, reflected by risk assessment scale scores. Continued substance use problems while incarcerated and continuing social skills deficits were most strongly associated with reincarceration suggests a possible need for review of these areas in the PIJ-measure programme. Results contribute to knowledge about risk assessment, treatment and preventions of harms by serious young offenders and may inform evidence-based policies and practices in the Netherlands and beyond.