No Evidence for an Association Between Variability in Sulcal Pattern and Academic Achievement

Investigating how the brain may constrain academic achievement is not only relevant to understanding brain structure but also to providing insight into the origins of individual differences in these academic abilities. In this pre-registered study, we investigated whether the variability of sulcal patterns, a qualitative feature of the brain determined in-utero and not affected by brain maturation and learning, accounted for individual differences in reading and mathematics. Participants were 97 typically developing 10-year-olds. We examined (a) the association between the sulcal pattern of the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and mathematical ability; (b) the association between the sulcal pattern of the occipitotemporal sulcus (OTS) and reading ability; and (c) the overlap and specificity of sulcal morphology of IPS and OTS and their associations with mathematics and reading. Despite its large sample, the present study was unable to replicate a previously observed relationship between the IPS sulcal pattern and mathematical ability and a previously observed association between the Left posterior OTS sulcal pattern and reading. We found no evidence for a possible overlap or specificity in the effect of sulcal morphology on mathematics and reading. Possible explanations for this absence of an association between sulcal morphology and academic achievement and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Abnormal Right-Hemispheric Sulcal Patterns Correlate with Executive Function in Adolescents with Tetralogy of Fallot

Neurodevelopmental disabilities are the most common noncardiac conditions in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). Executive function skills have been frequently observed to be decreased among children and adults with CHD compared with peers, but a neuroanatomical basis for the association is yet to be identified. In this study, we quantified sulcal pattern features from brain magnetic resonance imaging data obtained during adolescence among 41 participants with tetralogy of Fallot (ToF) and 49 control participants using a graph-based pattern analysis technique. Among patients with ToF, right-hemispheric sulcal pattern similarity to the control group was decreased (0.7514 vs. 0.7553, P = 0.01) and positively correlated with neuropsychological testing values including executive function (r = 0.48, P < 0.001). Together these findings suggest that sulcal pattern analysis may be a useful marker of neurodevelopmental risk in patients with CHD. Further studies may elucidate the mechanisms leading to different alterations in sulcal patterning.

No Evidence for an Association Between Variability in Sulcal Pattern and Academic Achievement

Investigating how the brain may constrain academic achievement is not only relevant to understanding brain structure but also to providing insight into the origins of individual differences in these academic abilities. In this pre-registered study, we investigated whether the variability of sulcal patterns, a qualitative feature of the brain determined in-utero and not affected by brain maturation and learning, accounted for individual differences in reading and mathematics. Participants were 97 typically developing 10-year-olds. We examined (a) the association between the sulcal pattern of the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and mathematical ability; (b) the association between the sulcal pattern of the occipitotemporal sulcus (OTS) and reading ability; and (c) the overlap and specificity of sulcal morphology of IPS and OTS and their associations with mathematics and reading. Despite its large sample, the present study was unable to replicate a previously observed relationship between the IPS sulcal pattern and mathematical ability and a previously observed association between the Left posterior OTS sulcal pattern and reading. We found no evidence for a possible overlap or specificity in the effect of sulcal morphology on mathematics and reading. Possible explanations for this absence of an association between sulcal morphology and academic achievement and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Abnormal Left‐Hemispheric Sulcal Patterns in Adults With Simple Congenital Heart Defects Repaired in Childhood

Background Children operated on for a simple congenital heart defect (CHD) are at risk of neurodevelopmental abnormalities. Abnormal cortical development and folding have been observed in fetuses with CHD. We examined whether sulcal folding patterns in adults operated on for simple CHD in childhood differ from those of healthy controls, and whether such differences are associated with neuropsychological outcomes. Methods and Results Patients (mean age, 24.5 years) who underwent childhood surgery for isolated atrial septal defect (ASD; n=33) or ventricular septal defect (VSD; n=30) and healthy controls (n=37) were enrolled. Sulcal pattern similarity to healthy controls was determined using magnetic resonance imaging and looking at features of sulcal folds, their intersulcal relationships, and sulcal graph topology. The sulcal pattern similarity values were tested for associations with comprehensive neuropsychological scores. Patients with both ASD and VSD had decreased sulcal pattern similarity in the left hemisphere compared with controls. The differences were found in the left temporal lobe in the ASD group and in the whole left hemisphere in the VSD group ( P =0.033 and P =0.039, respectively). The extent of abnormal left hemispheric sulcal pattern similarity was associated with worse neuropsychological scores (intelligence, executive function, and visuospatial abilities) in the VSD group, and special educational support in the ASD group. Conclusions Adults who underwent surgery for simple CHD in childhood display altered left hemisphere sulcal folding patterns, commensurate with neuropsychological scores for patients with VSD and special educational support for ASD. This may indicate that simple CHD affects early brain development. Registration URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov ; Unique identifier: NCT03871881.

Intergenerational Transmission of Cortical Sulcal Patterns from Mothers to their Children

Intergenerational effects are described as the genetic, epigenetic, as well as pre- and postnatal environmental influence parents have on their offspring’s behavior, cognition, and brain. During fetal brain development, the primary cortical sulci emerge with a distinctive folding pattern that are under strong genetic influence and show little change of this pattern throughout postnatal brain development. We examined intergenerational transmission of cortical sulcal patterns by comparing primary sulcal patterns between children (N = 16, age 5.5 ± 0.81 years, 8 males) and their biological mothers (N = 15, age 39.72 ± 4.68 years) as well as between children and unrelated adult females. Our graph-based sulcal pattern comparison method detected stronger sulcal pattern similarity for child–mother pairs than child-unrelated pairs, where higher similarity between child–mother pairs was observed mostly for the right lobar regions. Our results also show that child–mother versus child-unrelated pairs differ for daughters and sons with a trend toward significance, particularly for the left hemisphere lobar regions. This is the first study to reveal significant intergenerational transmission of cortical sulcal patterns, and our results have important implications for the study of the heritability of complex behaviors, brain-based disorders, the identification of biomarkers, and targets for interventions.

An Atypical Sulcal Pattern in Children with Disorders of the Corpus Callosum and Its Relation to Behavioral Outcomes

Hypogenesis (hCC) and dysgenesis (dCC) of the corpus callosum (CC) are characterized by its smaller size or absence. The outcomes of these patients vary considerably and are unrelated to the size of the CC abnormality. The aim of the current study was to characterize the sulcal pattern in children with hCC and dCC and to explore its relation to clinical outcome. We used quantitative sulcal pattern analysis that measures deviation (similarity index, SI) of the composite or individual sulcal features (position, depth, area, and graph topology) compared to the control group. We calculated SI for each hemisphere and lobe in 11 children with CC disorder (hCC = 4, dCC = 7) and 15 controls. hCC and dCC had smaller hemispheric SI compared to controls. dCC subjects had smaller regional SI in the frontal and occipital lobes, which were driven by a smaller SI in a position or a graph topology. The significantly decreased SI gradient was found across groups only in the sulcal graph topology of the temporal lobes (controls > hCC > dCC) and was related to clinical outcome. Our results suggest that careful examination of sulcal pattern in hCC and dCC patients could be a useful biomarker of outcome.

Abnormal Left-Hemispheric Sulcal Patterns Correlate with Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Subjects with Single Ventricular Congenital Heart Disease

Neurodevelopmental abnormalities are the most common noncardiac complications in patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). Prenatal brain abnormalities may be due to reduced oxygenation, genetic factors, or less commonly, teratogens. Understanding the contribution of these factors is essential to improve outcomes. Because primary sulcal patterns are prenatally determined and under strong genetic control, we hypothesized that they are influenced by genetic variants in CHD. In this study, we reveal significant alterations in sulcal patterns among subjects with single ventricle CHD (n = 115, 14.7 ± 2.9 years [mean ± standard deviation]) compared with controls (n = 45, 15.5 ± 2.4 years) using a graph-based pattern-analysis technique. Among patients with CHD, the left hemisphere demonstrated decreased sulcal pattern similarity to controls in the left temporal and parietal lobes, as well as the bilateral frontal lobes. Temporal and parietal lobes demonstrated an abnormally asymmetric left–right pattern of sulcal basin area in CHD subjects. Sulcal pattern similarity to control was positively correlated with working memory, processing speed, and executive function. Exome analysis identified damaging de novo variants only in CHD subjects with more atypical sulcal patterns. Together, these findings suggest that sulcal pattern analysis may be useful in characterizing genetically influenced, atypical early brain development and neurodevelopmental risk in subjects with CHD.