Magnetic Resonance Imagining (MRI) allows quantitative assessment of specific brain regions that may advance our understanding of brain development and function in children. Development of protocols to promote compliance in unsedated young children during anatomic MRI (aMRI) scans has significant clinical, therapeutic, and research importance. Through the performance ofnon-invasive, unmedicated neuroimaging studies, valuable neuroanatomical and physiological information may be obtained without the risk of adverse consequences to the child.
The aims of this proposal are to conduct a preliminary study to: (1) evaluate two behavioral motion control training protocols for early school-aged children, (2) compare two automated methods (Talairach versus revised Talairach) of the brain parcellation to manual parcellation of specific cortical regions in young children, and (3) use aMRI to analyze specific cortical areas in children with intrauterine drug exposure (IUDE) compared to non-drug exposed children. The proposed study of sixty 6 year-old-children (30 with and 30 without IUDE) will use a randomized design to evaluate two behavioral motion control protocols. Following behavioral training the children will receive an MRI for comparison of automated versus manual cortical parcellation techniques on a subset of the MRI studies and volumetric assessment of specific cortical regions on all MRI studies. It is hypothesized that (1) children who receive computer-assisted differential performance feedback and rewards contingent on inhibiting motion during mock scanner rehearsal will demonstrate greater motion control during actual MRI compared to children who receive mock scanner rehearsal with non-contingent rewards, (2) the revised Talairach method of subparcellation will yield improved volumetric measures compared to the Talairach method, and (3) children with IUDE will demonstrate volumetric differences in frontal and parietal regions of the brain compared to non-drug exposed children. An age-, gender- and IQ- matched cohort of sixty children from an on-going longitudinal NIH funded (NR03442-08; PI: Arlene Butz, RN, Sc.D) grant evaluating 254 children with and without IUDE will serve as the research subject source for the proposed study. The funds requested would cover the cost of performing and analyzing the randomized trial to determine which protocol for motion control training is most effective and evaluation and analysis of 60 aMRI from children with and without IUDE. The behavioral protocol outcome data, neuroimaging data, and longitudinal study data will be used to develop an RO1 research application to the National Institute on Drug Abuse to study the potential neuropsychological and neuroanatomical differences in the larger longitudinal study cohort.
