Early Brain Development: Insights from Imaging
Speaker: P Ellen Grant , Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Harvard Medical School
Date: November 21 2008
Time: 2:00PM to 3:00PM
Location: 32-D507
Host: Polina Golland, CSAIL
Contact: Polina Golland, x38005, polina@csail.mit.edu
Relevant URL: The human brain grows at a rapid rate from the 2nd trimester of fetal
life through 2 years of age. Gyral folding is almost complete by 35
weeks gestational age, myelination is almost complete by 2 years and
brain volume is 80% of adult by 3 years. Early brain growth plays a
central role in later cognitive function and behaviour. Early brain
injuries, abnormal genetic expression or environmental influences can
modulate the trajectory of normal brain development and result in
cognitive or behavioural deficits. Therefore the key to early
detection with the possibility of treatment and the key to
understanding primary versus secondary alterations in growth
trajectories lies in the ability to better quantify and characterize
early brain development. In this talk I will present early results of
neuroimaging methods that attempt to characterize and quantify early
brain growth, current strategies for moving forward and unsolved
problems.
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