Jeffrey J. Neil

TL;DR: Identified patterns of network maturation reflect the intricate relationship of structural and functional processes present throughout this important developmental period and are consistent with prior investigations of neurodevelopment in this population of prematurely born infants.

TL;DR: The D values primarily reflect overall brain water content and the A sigma values are more sensitive to tissue microstructure (e.g., white matter packing and myelination), which reveal information and not apparent on T1- and T2-weighted images.

TL;DR: It is hypothesize that it is beneficial for regions of recent evolutionary expansion to remain less mature at birth, perhaps to increase the influence of postnatal experience on the development of these regions or to focus prenatal resources on regions most important for early survival.

TL;DR: Diffusion-tensor MR imaging is a powerful method for studying the process of brain development, with both scientific and clinical applications, and changes in water diffusion during maturation of central gray and white matter structures can be explained by theoretical models incorporating simple assumptions regarding the influence of brain water content and myelination.

TL;DR: The impact on brain development of 1 potential factor, exposure to stressors in the neonatal intensive care unit, has not yet been studied in a systematic, prospective manner.