Evaluation of Cerebral White Matter in Prelingually Deaf Children Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging

<div>Voxel-wise statistical analyses of skeleton-space FA images. (a) Effects of age on regional FA in both groups. White matter tracts in red-yellow reveal a significant age-related increase in FA. In the DEAF group, significant correlations with age appear for nearly every white matter tract. (b) White matter structures exhibiting significantly lower FAs in the DEAF4 group (<span class="nowrap"><svg height="9.2729pt" id="M14" style="vertical-align:-0.6370001pt" version="1.1" viewbox="-0.0498162 -8.6359 44.8393 9.2729" width="44.8393pt" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,0,0)"><path d="M600 480C600 590 528 650 384 650H143L137 622C222 614 225 607 210 531L130 127C113 41 106 36 23 28L17 0H294L300 28C204 36 195 42 212 127L243 284L314 263C327 263 339 263 352 264C465 271 600 337 600 480ZM508 481C508 351 402 304 329 304C289 304 265 311 250 317L295 559C302 594 310 606 323 611C335 616 350 619 367 619C455 619 508 573 508 481Z" id="g113-81"></path></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,11.658,0)"><path d="M512 -3V55L134 254V256L512 456V514L75 281V230L512 -3Z" id="g117-91"></path></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,22.921,0)"><path d="M241 635C89 635 35 457 35 312C35 153 89 -12 240 -12C390 -12 443 166 443 312C443 466 390 635 241 635ZM238 602C329 602 354 454 354 312C354 172 330 22 240 22C152 22 124 173 124 313S148 602 238 602Z" id="g113-49"></path></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,29.161,0)"><path d="M113 -12C146 -12 170 11 170 46C170 78 146 103 114 103S58 78 58 46C58 11 82 -12 113 -12Z" id="g113-47"></path></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,32.125,0)"><path d="M241 635C89 635 35 457 35 312C35 153 89 -12 240 -12C390 -12 443 166 443 312C443 466 390 635 241 635ZM238 602C329 602 354 454 354 312C354 172 330 22 240 22C152 22 124 173 124 313S148 602 238 602Z" id="g113-49"></path></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,38.365,0)"><path d="M153 550H386L412 615L406 623H120L82 318C104 327 142 338 184 338C294 338 347 275 347 187C347 112 305 39 221 39C160 39 119 71 97 89C88 97 80 96 71 90C59 80 50 67 49 57C48 45 52 36 66 23C80 9 123 -12 169 -12C221 -11 288 15 342 59C403 109 431 165 431 225C431 308 366 395 238 395C212 395 165 379 127 364L153 550Z" id="g113-54"></path></g></svg>,</span> corrected for multiple comparisons). The background image is a group-specific brain template. Green voxels are the FA white matter skeleton. Red to yellow voxels show regions of lower FA values in the DEAF4− group compared with the HEAR4− group. Axial sections with <svg height="6.44133pt" id="M15" style="vertical-align:-0.29774pt" version="1.1" viewbox="-0.0498162 -6.14359 6.59789 6.44133" width="6.59789pt" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,0,0)"><path d="M475 445L452 468C423 436 401 426 385 426S352 427 305 436C268 443 216 448 185 448C156 448 128 425 102 382C89 360 77 338 64 304L89 291C117 340 143 380 190 380C214 380 268 376 295 373C320 370 344 371 362 374L70 101C32 65 23 36 23 18C23 5 27 -3 31 -8C36 -8 39 -6 42 -1C52 15 67 31 80 40S110 49 143 33C195 8 257 -20 290 -20C339 -20 382 11 439 129L416 148C366 74 334 55 305 55C278 55 236 68 203 81C169 94 141 100 122 96C205 170 348 308 411 376L475 445Z" id="g113-123"></path></g></svg>-values ranging from <svg height="8.69875pt" id="M16" style="vertical-align:-0.3499298pt" version="1.1" viewbox="-0.0498162 -8.34882 20.286 8.69875" width="20.286pt" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,0,0)"><path d="M535 230V280H52V230H535Z" id="g117-33"></path></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,7.631,0)"><path d="M384 0V27C293 34 287 42 287 114V635C232 613 172 594 109 583V559L157 557C201 555 205 550 205 499V114C205 42 199 34 109 27V0H384Z" id="g113-50"></path></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,13.871,0)"><path d="M412 140C382 77 369 73 315 73H129L270 222C362 320 402 379 402 466C402 571 322 635 234 635C177 635 130 609 99 576L42 495L64 475C90 514 133 568 201 568C274 568 318 519 318 435C318 349 255 267 193 193C144 135 87 78 32 23V0H405C417 45 427 89 440 131L412 140Z" id="g113-51"></path></g></svg> to 30 (the MNI coordinates) are shown.</div>

BioMed Research International

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Figure 2

Figure 2: Evaluation of Cerebral White Matter in Prelingually Deaf Children Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging 