Abstract
Early childhood marks a period of dynamic neurocognitive development. Preschool-age coincides with the onset of many childhood disorders and is a developmental period that is frequently studied to determine markers of neurodevelopmental disorders. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is often used to explore typical brain development and the neural bases of neurodevelopmental disorders. However, acquiring high-quality MRI data in young children is challenging. The enclosed space and loud sounds can trigger unease and cause excessive head movement. A better understanding of potential factors that predict successful MRI acquisition would increase chances of collecting useable data in children with and without neurodevelopmental disorders. We investigated whether age, sex, stuttering status, and childhood temperament as measured using the Child Behavioral Questionnaire, could predict movement extent during resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) in 76 children aged 3–7 years, including 42 children who stutter (CWS). We found that age, sex, and temperament factors could predict motion during rs-fMRI scans. The CWS were not found to differ significantly from controls in temperament or head movement during scanning. Sex and age were significant predictors of movement. However, age was no longer a significant predictor when temperament, specifically effortful control, was considered. Controlling for age, boys with higher effortful control scores moved less during rs-fMRI procedures. Additionally, boys who showed higher negative affectivity showed a trend for greater movement. Considering temperament factors in addition to age and sex may help predict the success of acquiring useable rs-fMRI (and likely general brain MRI) data in young children in MR neuroimaging.
Highlights
Though generally considered to be a technique that is difficult to apply in young children, Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used at an increasing rate over the last few decades to study brain development in typically developing children and children with neurodevelopmental disorders (Price, 2012)
The current study investigated whether a diagnosis of developmental stuttering, age, sex, and temperament as assessed by scores on the Child Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ; Rothbart et al, 2001), could predict excessive head movement during resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning in young children who stutter and their non-stuttering peers
The present study examined the effects of clinical group, age, sex, and temperament on the extent of head movement during resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning in young children
Summary
Though generally considered to be a technique that is difficult to apply in young children, MRI has been used at an increasing rate over the last few decades to study brain development in typically developing children and children with neurodevelopmental disorders (Price, 2012). There is no strong evidence for an effect of sex (Malisza et al, 2010; Cahoon and Davison, 2014); not all studies explicitly examined sex as a factor (Yerys et al, 2009) These studies importantly did not examine the differences between sexes within clinical populations, despite a large body of evidence suggesting that different behaviors and developmental patterns are present among boys and girls diagnosed with neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g., Gaub and Carlson, 1997; Hartley and Sikora, 2009; Mandy et al, 2012; Arnett et al, 2013)
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