Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine of the Technische Universitaet Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
Department of Preventive Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Neuropsychol Rev. 2022 Jun;32(2):400-418. doi: 10.1007/s11065-021-09496-2. Epub 2021 Apr 24.
Structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) offers immense potential for increasing our understanding of how anatomical brain development relates to clinical symptoms and functioning in neurodevelopmental disorders. Clinical developmental sMRI may help identify neurobiological risk factors or markers that may ultimately assist in diagnosis and treatment. However, researchers and clinicians aiming to conduct sMRI studies of neurodevelopmental disorders face several methodological challenges. This review offers hands-on guidelines for clinical developmental sMRI. First, we present brain morphometry metrics and review evidence on typical developmental trajectories throughout adolescence, together with atypical trajectories in selected neurodevelopmental disorders. Next, we discuss challenges and good scientific practices in study design, image acquisition and analysis, and recent options to implement quality control. Finally, we discuss choices related to statistical analysis and interpretation of results. We call for greater completeness and transparency in the reporting of methods to advance understanding of structural brain alterations in neurodevelopmental disorders.
结构磁共振成像（sMRI）为我们深入了解解剖学大脑发育与神经发育障碍的临床症状和功能之间的关系提供了巨大的潜力。临床发育 sMRI 可能有助于识别神经生物学风险因素或标志物，这些因素或标志物最终可能有助于诊断和治疗。然而，旨在进行神经发育障碍 sMRI 研究的研究人员和临床医生面临着几个方法学挑战。本综述为临床发育 sMRI 提供了实用指南。首先，我们介绍了脑形态计量学指标，并回顾了整个青春期的典型发育轨迹的证据，以及选定的神经发育障碍中的异常轨迹。接下来，我们讨论了研究设计、图像采集和分析中的挑战和良好科学实践，以及实施质量控制的最新选择。最后，我们讨论了与统计分析和结果解释相关的选择。我们呼吁在报告方法时更加完整和透明，以提高对神经发育障碍中结构性脑改变的理解。
