Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2002 Dec;17(12):885-90.
doi: 10.1177/08830738020170122201.

Practical aspects of conducting large-scale functional magnetic resonance imaging studies in children

Anna Weber Byars  1 , Scott K Holland, Richard H Strawsburg, Wendy Bommer, R Scott Dunn, Vince J Schmithorst, Elena Plante
Affiliations

Practical aspects of conducting large-scale functional magnetic resonance imaging studies in children

Anna Weber Byars et al. J Child Neurol. 2002 Dec.

Abstract

The potential benefits of functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the investigation of normal development have been limited by difficulties in its use with children. We describe the practical aspects, including failure rates, involved in conducting large-scale functional MRI studies with normal children. Two hundred and nine healthy children between the ages of 5 and 18 years participated in a functional MRI study of language development. Reliable activation maps were obtained across the age range. Younger children had significantly higher failure rates than older children and adolescents. It is concluded that it is feasible to conduct large-scale functional MRI studies of children as young as 5 years old. These findings can be used by other research groups to guide study design and plans for recruitment of young subjects.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Composite and individual activation maps for two age groups.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Composite and individual activation maps for two age groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ogawa S, Lee TM, Kay AR, Tank DW. Brain magnetic resonance imaging with contrast dependent on blood oxygenation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990;87:9868–9872. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hertz-Pannier L, Gaillard WD, Mott S, et al. Noninvasive assessment of language dominance in children and adolescence with functional MRI: A preliminary study. Neurology. 1997;48:1003–1012. - PubMed
    1. Holloway V, Gadian DG, Vargha-Khadem F, et al. The reorganization of sensorimotor function in children after hemispherectomy: A functional MRI and somatosensory evoked potential study. Brain. 2000;123:2432–44. - PubMed
    1. Gaillard WD, Hertz-Pannier L, Mott SH, Barnett AS, LeBihan D, Theodore WH. Functional anatomy of cognitive development: fMRI of verbal fluency in children and adults. Neurology. 2000;54:180–185. - PubMed
    1. Gaillard WD, Pugliese M, Grandin CB, et al. Cortical localization of reading in normal children: an fMRI language study. Neurology. 2001;57:47–54. - PubMed

Publication types