Manning Janessa H, Courchesne Eric, Fox Peter T
Research Imaging Institute, University of Texas Health Science Center, 7703 Floyd Curl Dr., San Antonio, TX 78229, USA.
Neuroimage. 2013 Dec;83:288-93. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2013.05.020. Epub 2013 May 29.
Structural and functional neuroimaging have substantively informed the pathophysiology of numerous adult neurological and psychiatric disorders. While structural neuroimaging is readily acquired in sedated young children, pediatric application of functional neuroimaging has been limited by the behavioral demands of in-scanner task performance. Here, we investigated whether functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) acquired during natural sleep and without experimental stimulation offers a viable strategy for studying young children. We targeted the lengthy epoch of non-rapid eye movement, stage 3 (NREM3) sleep typically observed at sleep onset in sleep-deprived children. Seven healthy, preschool-aged children (24-58 months) were studied, acquiring fMRI measurements of cerebral blood flow (CBF) and of intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs), with concurrent sleep-stage monitoring. ICN data (T2* fMRI) were reliably obtained during NREM3 sleep; CBF data (arterial spin labeled fMRI) were not reliably obtained, as scanner noises disrupted sleep. Applying independent component analysis (ICA) to T2* data, distinct ICNs were observed which corresponded closely with those reported in the adult literature. Notably, a network associated with orthography in adults was not observed, suggesting that ICNs exhibit a developmental trajectory. We conclude that resting-state fMRI obtained in sleep is a promising paradigm for neurophysiological investigations of young children.
结构和功能神经成像为众多成人神经和精神疾病的病理生理学提供了重要信息。虽然在镇静的幼儿中很容易获得结构神经成像，但功能神经成像在儿科的应用一直受到扫描仪内任务表现的行为要求的限制。在这里，我们研究了在自然睡眠期间且无实验刺激的情况下获得的功能磁共振成像（fMRI）是否为研究幼儿提供了一种可行的策略。我们针对的是睡眠不足儿童入睡时通常观察到的长时间非快速眼动3期（NREM3）睡眠。对7名健康的学龄前儿童（24 - 58个月）进行了研究，在同步进行睡眠阶段监测的同时，获取了脑血流量（CBF）和内在连接网络（ICN）的fMRI测量值。在NREM3睡眠期间可靠地获得了ICN数据（T2 * fMRI）；由于扫描仪噪音干扰睡眠，未可靠获得CBF数据（动脉自旋标记fMRI）。对T2 *数据应用独立成分分析（ICA），观察到了与成人文献中报道的ICN密切对应的不同ICN。值得注意的是，未观察到与成人正字法相关的网络，这表明ICN呈现出发育轨迹。我们得出结论，睡眠中获得的静息态fMRI是幼儿神经生理学研究的一种有前景的范式。
