Theoretically derived scaling laws capture the nonlinear relationships between rapidly expanding brain volume and cortical gyrification across mammalian species and in adult humans. However, the preservation of these laws has not been comprehensively assessed in typical or pathological brain development. Here, we assessed the scaling laws governing cortical thickness (CT), surface area (SA), and cortical folding in the neonatal brain. We also assessed multivariate morphological terms that capture brain size, shape, and folding processes. The sample consisted of 345 typically developing infants, 73 preterm infants, and 107 infants with congenital heart disease (CHD) who underwent brain MRI. Our results show that typically developing neonates and those with CHD follow the cortical folding scaling law obtained from mammalian brains, children, and adults which captures the relationship between exposed SA, total SA, and CT. Cortical folding scaling was not affected by gestational age at birth, postmenstrual age at scan, sex, or multiple birth in these populations. CHD was characterized by a unique reduction in the multivariate morphological term capturing size, suggesting that CHD affects cortical growth overall but not cortical folding processes. In contrast, preterm birth was characterized by altered cortical folding scaling and altered shape, suggesting that the developmentally programmed processes of cortical folding are disrupted in this population. The degree of altered shape was associated with cognitive abilities in early childhood in preterm infants.

中文翻译：

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典型和改变发育中新生儿脑的皮质脱屑


理论推导的缩放定律捕捉了哺乳动物物种和成年人中快速膨胀的脑体积与皮质回旋之间的非线性关系。然而，这些规律的保留尚未在典型或病态的大脑发育中得到全面评估。在这里，我们评估了控制新生儿大脑皮质厚度 （CT） 、表面积 （SA） 和皮质折叠的缩放规律。我们还评估了捕捉大脑大小、形状和折叠过程的多变量形态学术语。样本包括 345 名正常发育的婴儿、73 名早产儿和 107 名接受脑部 MRI 的先天性心脏病 （CHD） 婴儿。我们的结果表明，正常发育的新生儿和 CHD 患者遵循从哺乳动物大脑、儿童和成人获得的皮质折叠缩放定律，该定律捕捉了暴露的 SA、总 SA 和 CT 之间的关系。皮质折叠缩放不受出生胎龄、扫描时胎龄、性别或这些人群的多胞胎的影响。CHD 的特征是捕获大小的多变量形态学术语的独特减少，表明 CHD 影响整体皮质生长，但不影响皮质折叠过程。相比之下，早产的特征是皮质折叠脱屑改变和形状改变，表明该人群皮质折叠的发育程序化过程被破坏。形状改变的程度与早产儿早期的认知能力相关。