Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging of cerebral white matter development

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) has become a sensitive tool to monitor white matter development. Different applications of diffusion-weighted techniques provide information about premyclinating, myelinating, and postmyelinating states of white matter maturation. Mirroring maturational processes on the cellular level, DWI has to be regarded as a morphological method as well as a functional instrument, giving insight into molecular processes during the formation of axons and myelin sheets and into the steric arrangement of white matter tracts the formation of which is strongly influenced by their function. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.