MRI signatures of cortical microstructure in human development align with oligodendrocyte cell-type expression

Genc, Sila, Ball, Gareth, Chamberland, Maxime ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7064-0984, Raven, Erika P., Tax, Chantal M. W. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7480-8817, Ward, Isobel, Yang, Joseph Y. M., Palombo, Marco ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4892-7967 and Jones, Derek K. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4409-8049 2025. MRI signatures of cortical microstructure in human development align with oligodendrocyte cell-type expression. Nature Communications 16 , 3317. 10.1038/s41467-025-58604-w

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Abstract

Neuroanatomical changes to the cortex during adolescence have been well documented using MRI, revealing ongoing cortical thinning and volume loss. Recent advances in MRI hardware and biophysical models of tissue informed by diffusion MRI data hold promise for identifying the cellular changes driving these morphological observations. Using ultra-strong gradient MRI, this study quantifies cortical neurite and soma microstructure in typically developing youth. Across domain-specific networks, cortical neurite signal fraction, attributed to neuronal and glial processes, increases with age. The apparent soma radius, attributed to the apparent radius of glial and neuronal cell bodies, decreases with age. Analyses of two independent post-mortem datasets reveal that genes increasing in expression through adolescence are significantly enriched in cortical oligodendrocytes and Layer 5–6 neurons. In our study, we show spatial and temporal alignment of oligodendrocyte cell-type gene expression with neurite and soma microstructural changes, suggesting that ongoing cortical myelination processes drive adolescent cortical development.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Research Institutes & Centres > Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC) Schools > Medicine Schools > Physics and Astronomy Schools > Psychology
Publisher:	Nature Research
ISSN:	2041-1723
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	24 February 2025
Date of Acceptance:	27 March 2025
Last Modified:	22 Apr 2025 11:17
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/176417

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