Individual subject-based maturational coupling as indicator of brain development: A longitudinal MRI study.

Several neuroimaging studies have shown large-scale structural covariance networks (SCNs) based on correlation of cortical thickness among widely distributed cortical regions in population of healthy and diseased brains1,2,3. The mechanism of this population covariance has been hypothetically related to coordinated maturational changes in anatomically connected neuronal populations, possibly reflecting shared mutual trophic factors2,4. SCNs have also been observed to be highly heritable1,5 and, have anatomical and functional correspondence6,7. Thus, ideally SCNs can provide insights into the genetic and developmental processes that mould early neuronal wiring patterns to allow normal development of higher-order social and cognitive functions. However, SCNs, being population-based, are limited in studying individual brain development.