FIGURE 2. Mapping dynamic patterns of brain development: four-dimensional growth maps.
From the following article:
Growth patterns in the developing brain detected by using continuum mechanical tensor maps
Paul M. Thompson, Jay N. Giedd, Roger P. Woods, David MacDonald, Alan C. Evans and Arthur W. Toga
Nature 404, 190-193(9 March 2000)
doi:10.1038/35004593
Strikingly similar growth rates were detected in the corpus callosum of five young normal subjects scanned repeatedly aged 6–13 years. Peak values throughout the posterior midbody (red colours) were attenuated after puberty (11–15 years). By contrast, near-zero maps of change were observed between scans acquired over a two-week interval. Between ages 3–6 years, extreme growth rates were found in the anterior interhemispheric fibre systems that transfer information to sustain mental vigilance and organize new actions. Tensor maps identify the principal directions of growth rates, revealing an outward radial tissue expansion in frontal regions.
