Journal
DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES RESEARCH REVIEWS
Volume 16, Issue 1, Pages 23-30Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/ddrr.88
Keywords
Chiari II malformation; cerebellum; neuroimaging; structure; function; cortex; corpus callosum
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Funding
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
- National Institutes of Health [P01-HD35946, R01 HD046609]
- EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH &HUMAN DEVELOPMENT [P01HD035946, R01HD046609] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
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Spina bifida myelomeningocele (SBM) is a specific type of neural tube defect whereby the open neural tube at the level of the spinal cord alters brain development during early stages of gestation. Some structural anomalies are virtually unique to individuals with SBM, including a complex pattern of cerebellar dysplasia known as the Chiari II malformation. Other structural anomalies are not necessarily unique to SBM, including altered development of the corpus callosum and posterior fossa. Within SBM, tremendous heterogeneity is reflected in the degree to which brain structures are atypical in qualitative appearance and quantitative measures of morphometry. Hallmark structural features of SBM include overall reductions in posterior fossa and cerebellum size and volume. Studies of the corpus callosum have shown complex patterns of agenesis or hypoplasia along its rostral-caudal axis, with rostrum and splenium regions particularly susceptible to agenesis. Studies of cortical regions have demonstrated complex patterns of thickening, thinning, and gyrification. Diffusion tensor imaging studies have reported compromised integrity of some specific white matter pathways. Given equally complex ocular motor, motor, and cognitive phenotypes consisting of relative strengths and weaknesses that seem to align with altered structural development, studies of SBM provide new insights to our current understanding of brain structure-function associations. (C) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Dev Disabil Res Rev 2010;16:23-30.
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