Joe Bathelt|Susan E. Gathercole|Sally Butterfield|Duncan Astle
Children's academic attainment is linked to the global organization of the white matter connectome
MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit|University of Cambridge|MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit|University of Cambridge|MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit|University of Cambridge|MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit|University of Cambridge
abstract literacy numeracy important skills typically learned childhood time coincides considerable shifts largescale brain organization however studies emphasize focal brain contributions literacy numeracy development employing casecontrol designs voxelbyvoxel statistical comparisons approach valuable may underestimate contribution overall brain network organization current study includes children n 133 children 86 male mean age 942 sd 1715 age range 5921375y broad range abilities uses wholebrain structural connectomics based diffusionweighted mri data results indicate academic attainment associated differences structural brain organization something seen focusing integrity specific regions furthermore simulated disruption highlyconnected brain regions known hubs suggests role regions maintaining architecture network may important specific aspects processing findings indicate distributed brain systems contribute etiology difficulties academic learning cannot captured using traditional voxelwise statistical approach