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Article
Mother-child similarity in brain morphology: A comparison of structural characteristics of the brain's reading network
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Lynn V. Fehlbaum, Universität Zürich
  • Lien Peters, Western University
  • Plamina Dimanova, Universität Zürich
  • Margot Roell, KU Leuven
  • Réka Borbás, Universität Zürich
  • Daniel Ansari, Western University
  • Nora M. Raschle, Universität Zürich
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-1-2022
URL with Digital Object Identifier
10.1016/j.dcn.2022.101058
Abstract

Background: Substantial evidence acknowledges the complex gene-environment interplay impacting brain development and learning. Intergenerational neuroimaging allows the assessment of familial transfer effects on brain structure, function and behavior by investigating neural similarity in caregiver-child dyads. Methods: Neural similarity in the human reading network was assessed through well-used measures of brain structure (i.e., surface area (SA), gyrification (lG), sulcal morphology, gray matter volume (GMV) and cortical thickness (CT)) in 69 mother-child dyads (children's age~11 y). Regions of interest for the reading network included left-hemispheric inferior frontal gyrus, inferior parietal lobe and fusiform gyrus. Mother-child similarity was quantified by correlation coefficients and familial specificity was tested by comparison to random adult-child dyads. Sulcal morphology analyses focused on occipitotemporal sulcus interruptions and similarity was assessed by chi-square goodness of fit. Results: Significant structural brain similarity was observed for mother-child dyads in the reading network for lG, SA and GMV (r = 0.349/0.534/0.542, respectively), but not CT. Sulcal morphology associations were non-significant. Structural brain similarity in lG, SA and GMV were specific to mother-child pairs. Furthermore, structural brain similarity for SA and GMV was higher compared to CT. Conclusion: Intergenerational neuroimaging techniques promise to enhance our knowledge of familial transfer effects on brain development and disorders.

Citation Information
Lynn V. Fehlbaum, Lien Peters, Plamina Dimanova, Margot Roell, et al.. "Mother-child similarity in brain morphology: A comparison of structural characteristics of the brain's reading network" Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Vol. 53 (2022)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/daniel-ansari/15/