MRI neuroimaging of childhood psychiatric disorders: a selective review

Over the past 10 years, innovations in physics and computer science have promoted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as an essential tool for investigating the biological substrates of psychiatric disorders. Requiring no radiation exposure, MRI is now the preferred imaging technique for pediatric populations. However, the rapid technical advances in MRI pulse sequences, data processing, and analysis have made it increasingly complex for clinicians to compare and critically evaluate MRI research studies. This paper selectively reviews MRI research on five psychiatric conditions occurring in childhood or adolescence: ADHD, autism, childhood-onset schizophrenia, Tourette syndrome, and early-onset depression. The selection of papers reviewed was based on four criteria: the originality of the idea underlying the paper, the quality of the sample and methodologies used, the presence of controversial findings in the paper, and whether the paper was a clear illustration of specific methodological strengths or weaknesses. The two goals of this review paper are to update clinicians on morphometric brain imaging in child psychiatry and the methodological issues pertaining to image acquisition and analysis, and to promote critical reading of future MRI studies.