Development of cerebellar connectivity in human fetal brains revealed by high angular resolution diffusion tractography

High angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) tractography has provided insights into major white matter pathways and cortical development in the human fetal cerebrum. Our objective in this study was to further apply HARDI tracography to the developing human cerebellum ranging from fetal to adult stages, to outline in broad strokes the 3-dimensional development of white matter and local gray matter organization in the cerebellum. We imaged intact fixed fetal cerebellum specimens at 17 gestational weeks (W), 21W, 31W, 36W, and 38W along with an adult cerebellum for comparison. At the earliest gestational age studied (17W), coherent pathways that formed the superior, middle, and inferior cerebellar peduncles were already detected, but pathways between deep cerebellar nuclei and the cortex were not observed until after 38W. At 36–38W, we identified emerging regional specification of the middle cerebellar peduncle. In the cerebellar cortex, we observed disappearance of radial organization in the sagittal orientation during the studied developmental stages similar to our previous observations in developing cerebral cortex. In contrast, in the axial orientation, cerebellar cortical pathways emerged first sparsely (31W) and then with increased prominence at 36–38W with pathways detected both in the radial and tangential directions to the cortical surface. The cerebellar vermis first contained only pathways tangential to the long axes of folia (17–21W), but pathways parallel to the long axes of folia emerged between 21 and 31W. Our results show the potential for HARDI tractography to image developing human cerebellar connectivity. •Regional specification of middle cerebellar peduncle was emerged at late preterm.•In cerebellar cortex, radial coherence disappeared before birth in sagittal planes.•In axial planes, cerebellar cortical pathways gradually emerged after mid preterm.•In vermis, first tangential pathways were observed followed by parallel pathways.