當(dāng)一個孩子從他或她的狂亂的青少年時期成長到成年時期，其大腦是如何變化的呢,？ 根據(jù)一項新的研究,，對腦部進行為時5分鐘掃描的一個詳盡的分析就足以對腦的成熟水平提供某種測度。
為了得出這一結(jié)論,，Nico Dosenbach及其同事用復(fù)雜的模式分析軟件對238幅來自志愿者（他們的年齡為7-30歲）的功能連接核磁共振成像（fcMRI）腦掃描進行了分析,。 明確地說，他們的結(jié)果顯示,，腦中的長距離神經(jīng)元連接傾向于隨著年齡的增長而增加,，而短距離連接則會隨著時間的推進而變得較弱。 研究人員提出,，腦中短距離神經(jīng)元連接的喪失看來比任何其它因子都更能指示年齡的增長,。
他們還提出，一個成熟的腦會以整個腦子中更稀少但更為準(zhǔn)確的神經(jīng)元連接為特征,。 Dosenbach及其同事甚至提出,，一個快速的、5分鐘的功能連接核磁共振成像（fcMRI）腦掃描應(yīng)該在將來成為輔助醫(yī)生篩檢,、診斷和治療腦功能失常病人的例行措施,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦英文摘要：
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1194144
Prediction of Individual Brain Maturity Using fMRI
Nico U. F. Dosenbach,1,* Binyam Nardos,1 Alexander L. Cohen,1 Damien A. Fair,2 Jonathan D. Power,1 Jessica A. Church,1 Steven M. Nelson,1,3 Gagan S. Wig,1,4,5 Alecia C. Vogel,1 Christina N. Lessov-Schlaggar,6 Kelly Anne Barnes,1 Joseph W. Dubis,1 Eric Feczko,6 Rebecca S. Coalson,1,7 John R. Pruett, Jr.,6 Deanna M. Barch,3,6,7 Steven E. Petersen,1,3,7,8 Bradley L. Schlaggar1,7,8,9,*
Group functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (fcMRI) studies have documented reliable changes in human functional brain maturity over development. Here we show that support vector machine-based multivariate pattern analysis extracts sufficient information from fcMRI data to make accurate predictions about individuals’ brain maturity across development. The use of only 5 minutes of resting-state fcMRI data from 238 scans of typically developing volunteers (ages 7 to 30 years) allowed prediction of individual brain maturity as a functional connectivity maturation index. The resultant functional maturation curve accounted for 55% of the sample variance and followed a nonlinear asymptotic growth curve shape. The greatest relative contribution to predicting individual brain maturity was made by the weakening of short-range functional connections between the adult brain’s major functional networks.
1 Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
2 Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR 97239, USA.
3 Department of Psychology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
4 Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
5 Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA 02129, USA.
6 Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
7 Department of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
8 Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
9 Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
