Quantification of sulcal emergence timing and its variability in early fetal life: Hemispheric asymmetry and sex difference
Hyuk Jin Yun,
Hyun Ju Lee,
Joo Young Lee,
Tomo Tarui,
Caitlin K. Rollins,
Cynthia M. Ortinau,
Henry A. Feldman,
P.Ellen Grant,
Kiho Im
Affiliations
Hyuk Jin Yun
Fetal Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115, United States; Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States
Hyun Ju Lee
Department of Pediatrics, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul 04763, Korea (the Republic of)
Joo Young Lee
Department of Pediatrics, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul 04763, Korea (the Republic of)
Tomo Tarui
Mother Infant Research Institute, Tufts Medical Center, Boston, MA 02115, United States
Caitlin K. Rollins
Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States
Cynthia M. Ortinau
Department of Pediatrics, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, United States
Henry A. Feldman
Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States; Institutional Centers for Clinical and Translational Research, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States
P.Ellen Grant
Fetal Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115, United States; Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States; Department of Radiology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States
Kiho Im
Fetal Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115, United States; Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States; Corresponding author at: Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center, Division of Newborn Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, 300 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115, United states
Human fetal brains show regionally different temporal patterns of sulcal emergence following a regular timeline, which may be associated with spatiotemporal patterns of gene expression among cortical regions. This study aims to quantify the timing of sulcal emergence and its temporal variability across typically developing fetuses by fitting a logistic curve to presence or absence of sulcus. We found that the sulcal emergence started from the central to the temporo-parieto-occipital lobes and frontal lobe, and the temporal variability of emergence in most of the sulci was similar between 1 and 2 weeks. Small variability (2 weeks) was shown in the bilateral occipitotemporal and left superior temporal sulci. The temporal variability showed a positive correlation with the emergence timing that may be associated with differential contributions between genetic and environmental factors. Our statistical analysis revealed that the right superior temporal sulcus emerged earlier than the left. Female fetuses showed a trend of earlier sulcal emergence in the right superior temporal sulcus, lower temporal variability in the right intraparietal sulcus, and higher variability in the right precentral sulcus compared to male fetuses. Our quantitative and statistical approach quantified the temporal patterns of sulcal emergence in detail that can be a reference for assessing the normality of developing fetal gyrification.
