Project overview:
The overarching goal of the Pediatric MRI Study and the resulting Data Repository is to foster a better understanding of normal brain maturation as a basis for understanding atypical brain development associated with a variety of disorders and diseases.
This seven year study used magnetic resonance technologies to further our knowledge of brain maturation in healthy, typically-developing infants, children, and adolescents and to correlate brain development with cognitive and behavioral development. The information obtained in this study is expected to provide essential data for understanding the course of normal brain development as a basis for understanding atypical brain development associated with a variety of developmental, neurological, and neuropsychiatric disorders affecting children and adults.
This study enrolled over 500 children, ranging from infancy to young adulthood. The goal was to study each participant at least three times over the course of the project at one of six Pediatric Centers across the United States. Brain MR and clinical/behavioral data have been compiled and analyzed at a Data Coordinating Center and Clinical Coordinating Center. Additionally, MR spectroscopy and DTI data are being analyzed.The study was organized around two objectives corresponding to two age ranges at the time of enrollment, each with its own protocols.
Objective 1 enrolled children ages 4 years, 6 months through 18 years (total N = 433). This sample was recruited across the six Pediatric Study Centers using community based sampling to reflect the demographics of the United States in terms of income, race, and ethnicity. The subjects were studied with both imaging and clinical/behavioral measures at two year intervals for three time points.
Objective 2 enrolled newborns, infants, toddlers, and preschoolers from birth through 4 years, 5 months, who were studied three or more times at two Pediatric Study Centers at intervals ranging from three months for the youngest subjects to one year as the children approach the Objective 1 age range. Both imaging and clinical/behavioral measures were collected at each time point. Participant recruitment used community based sampling that included hospital venues (e.g., maternity wards and nurseries, satellite physician offices, and well-child clinics), community organizations (e.g., day-care centers, schools, and churches), and siblings of children participating in other research at the Pediatric Study Centers. At timepoint 1, of those enrolled, 114 children had T1 scans that passed quality control checks.
Anatomic MRI constituted the study's core imaging modality. Scans were attempted for all subjects and data points. While the success rate was high, some data is missing due to artifacts associated with child movement or poor compliance associated with unsedated scanning, missed visits due to dental braces, and attrition over the course of the study.
Ancillary studies included DTI and MRS, both single voxel (MRS) and MRS imaging (MRSI). These data were collected at a subset of the Study Centers, as shown below:
Pediatric Study Center
Objective 1
Objective 2
Single Voxel MRS(MRS)
/MRS imaging (MRSI)Standard DTI
Expanded DTI
Children's Hospital Boston Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston University of California, Los Angeles The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Washington University in St. Louis List of project investigators (Word Document)
Clinical/behavioral measures included physical neurological examinations, behavioral ratings, neuropsychological testing, structured psychiatric interviews, and hormonal measures from urine and saliva samples.
Data release plan: The data is being released in stages. The first data release included structural MR images and clinical/behavioral data from the first assessments, Visit 1, for Objective 1. A second data release included structural MRI and clinical/behavioral data from the second visit for Objective 1. A third data release will include structural MRI data for all visits for both Objective 1 and Objective 2 children. This will include some processed, as well as unprocessed, data. Additional and improved image processing is underway and may be added at a later date. Spectroscopy and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) will be released in the future. Each data release is identified by a version number.
