Individual neuroanatomical constraints on cognition and language

Converging evidence shows that individual differences in cognitive abilities are partly driven by neuroanatomical constraints determined during fetal life and largely unaffected by postnatal events. For instance, the large degree of intersubject variability in sulcal anatomy of the Anterior Cingulate Cortex has been associated with long-term differences in executive performance and functional activity. The consequences of these observations are far-reaching and represent a new perspective on the neural architecture of behavioral differences. On the other hand, neuroplastic processes continuously modify the brain organization in response to internal and external demands. This dissertation provides a systematic investigation on the dynamic interplay between early neuroanatomical constraints, environmental neuroplastic factors, brain activity, and cognitive performance across age. This work adopts a combination of complementary multimodal neuroimaging techniques (i.e., surface-based morphometry, structural and functional connectivity, and task-based fMRI), neuropsychological testing, and psycholinguistic assessment to better understand this complex relationship.