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Updated: Jun 13, 2026
Measurement Of Neuromagnetic Brain Function In Pre-school Children With Custom Sized MEG
Published on: February 19, 2010
Neuromagnetic biomarkers of visuocortical development in healthy children
Yangmei Chen1, Jing Xiang2, Elijah G Kirtman2
1Department of Neurology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA; Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Chongqing Medical University, 76 Lin Jiang Road, Chongqing 400010, China.
Objective:
The objective of the present study was to investigate noninvasive biomarkers for visuocortical development in healthy children.
Methods:
Sixty healthy children and 20 adults were studied with a whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) system. The adults were included to find out when the markers stabilize. Visual evoked magnetic fields (VEFs) were evoked with full-field pattern-reversal checks.
Results:
Three response peaks were identified at 77+/-8 ms (M75), 111+/-9 ms (M100) and 150+/-11 ms (M145) for children. The latency of M75 and M100 decreased with age (p<0.01). The amplitude ratio of M100/M75 increased significantly with age (p<0.001). The differences of MEG source images between the left and right occipital cortices for M75 and M145 increased significantly with age (r=0.47 and 0.46, respectively, p<0.01).
Conclusions:
The latency of M75 and M100 and the amplitude ratio of M100/M75 are robust biomarkers for the development of visual function in children.
Significance:
The development of visual function in childhood is noninvasively measurable. The results lay a foundation for quantitative identification of developmental delay and/or abnormalities of visual function in children with brain disorders.
