Brain-Imaging Studies: Challenges

• sulcal CSF is far less in amount than in the adult brain, leading to "packing" of cortical gyri.

• when opposing banks of a sulcus are closer to each other than the MR image resolution (e.g, 1mm3), segmentation algorithms fail to detect the sulcal boundaries and may fuse adjacent gyri together (the partial-volume effect);

• thick cortices (children) are more difficult to capture by some corticometric algorithms than thin cortices (adult);

• early rapid changes require frequent imaging sessions; fewer sessions needed in late childhood & adolescence, but partial-volume effect are problematic till adulthood.