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Abstract:
The extent to which child and adult neuroimaging data may be
effectively transformed into a common stereotactic space is a
critical issue for developmental neuroscientists. In the present
research, we assessed the effectiveness of the placement of
children's brains into Talairach space by comparing the coordinates
of major sulci in a group of healthy 7 and 8-year old child
volunteers to the coordinates of the same sulci in a group of
healthy adults (age-range 18-35). Twenty child brains and 20 adult
brains were placed in Talairach space using methods developed by
our group. Consistently identifiable portions of nine sulci (i.e.,
the calcarine, cingulate, central, inferior-frontal, olfactory,
parietal-occipital, posterior-insula, superior-frontal, and
superior-temporal sulci) were chosen from a wide distribution of
the cortex, and their coordinates were plotted by two of the
researchers. Results reveal few differences between child and adult
sulci. In particular, of the nine sulci examined, only two (the
parietal-occipital and superior-temporal sulci) differed
significantly between children and adults. Moreover, even
statistically significant differences were small, with the largest
distances between analogous points in children and adults less than
3 millimeters. Thus, we conclude that 7 and 8-year old child and
adult neuroimaging data may be effectively transformed into the
same (Talairach) stereotactic space. [Support provided by
NIH/NICHHD (#HD33588)]
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