Data retention in awake infant fMRI: Lessons from more than 750 scanning sessions

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in awake infants offers insights into early brain development and its link to cognition and behavior.
• Significant methodological challenges have limited the widespread use of awake infant fMRI.
• This study analyzes extensive awake infant fMRI data from multiple institutions to identify factors influencing data acquisition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility and optimize practices for awake infant fMRI research.
• To identify key factors affecting the quantity of usable fMRI data obtained from infants.
• To provide practical recommendations for future awake infant fMRI studies.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 766 awake infant fMRI sessions across two institutions.
• Exploration of factors influencing data yield, including participant age, sex, experimental paradigm, and stimulus content.
• Assessment of the utility of collecting multiple experiments per session.

Main Results:

• The average usable fMRI data per session was 9 minutes.
• Younger infants were more likely to successfully enter the scanner and yield more data.
• Data retention was higher for females, movie stimuli, and social content compared to block/event paradigms and abstract stimuli.

Conclusions:

• Awake infant fMRI is a viable method for studying early brain development, despite inherent unpredictability.
• Infant age, sex, and experimental design choices significantly impact data acquisition success.
• Optimized recruitment, experimental design (e.g., using movies), and stimulus selection can enhance data yield in infant fMRI studies.