Mapping brain function in adults and young children during naturalistic viewing with high-density diffuse optical...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Existing neuroimaging techniques face challenges in studying early brain development in children.
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) presents logistical difficulties for pediatric populations.
• Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has limitations in image quality due to sparse sampling.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate high-density diffuse optical tomography (HD-DOT) for high-resolution optical neuroimaging in awake children aged 1-7 years.
• To develop and optimize an HD-DOT system and movie-based stimuli for pediatric brain mapping.
• To enable the study of typical and atypical developmental trajectories during sensitive early life periods.

Main Methods:

• Development of a specialized HD-DOT system designed for improved image quality and child comfort.
• Characterization of a library of animated movie clips as engaging stimuli for brain mapping.
• Optimization of data analysis pipelines for processing optical neuroimaging data from children.

Main Results:

• The developed HD-DOT system successfully mapped cortical responses to movie stimuli in awake children aged 1-7 years.
• Cortical responses to features such as speech within movies were observed in both children and adults.
• The combined approach demonstrated feasibility for high-resolution optical neuroimaging in a pediatric cohort.

Conclusions:

• HD-DOT combined with movie stimuli provides a promising tool for pediatric neuroimaging.
• This methodology facilitates the investigation of early brain development and language acquisition during critical periods.
• The study lays the foundation for future research on developmental trajectories and clinical populations.