Human white matter pathway development: connections to cognition

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Human white matter pathway development: connections to cognition Brian Wandell1* 1 Stanford University, Department of Psychology, United States Brain development depends significantly on circumstances. One of the best known examples is the experience-dependent plasticity that influences ocular dominance column formation in V1. In this example the long-range white matter projections are intact and developmental plasticity is mediated by competition for synaptic space within the dendritic and axonal arbors. There are also more extreme circumstances, in which entire sets of long-range projections are missing or abnormal. To compensate for such profound white matter abnormalities, the brain may use other strategies. Several types of white matter conditions related to development will be reviewed. First, I will describe two severe disturbances of the white matter projections: (a) achiasmic subjects, and (b) subjects born with only one hemisphere. In some of these extreme cases, development plasticity can compensate and produce surprisingly good behavioral outcomes. Second, I will describe two examples in which variations of white matter microstructure correlates with cognition. In one example the white matter microstructure is associated with reading development; in a second example white matter microstructure is associated with numerical processing. By understanding the relationship between white matter development and behavioral outcome, we may broaden our understanding of the mechanisms available to developmental plasticity. Studies of the development of white matter projections and microstructure may help to identify key cognitive systems and understand the basis for behavioral disorders. Conference: Conference on Neurocognitive Development, Berkeley, CA, United States, 12 Jul - 14 Jul, 2009. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Language Citation: Wandell B (2009). Human white matter pathway development: connections to cognition. Conference Abstract: Conference on Neurocognitive Development. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.09.2009.10.006 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 06 Jul 2009; Published Online: 06 Jul 2009. * Correspondence: Brian Wandell, Stanford University, Department of Psychology, Stanford, CA, United States, wandell@stanford.edu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Brian Wandell Google Brian Wandell Google Scholar Brian Wandell PubMed Brian Wandell Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.