(Un)common space in infant neuroimaging studies: a systematic review of infant templates

Abstract

In neuroimaging, spatial normalization is an important step that maps an individuals brain onto a template brain permitting downstream statistical analyses. Yet, in infant neuroimaging, there remain several technical challenges that have prevented the establishment of a standardized template for spatial normalization. Thus, many different approaches are used in the literature. To quantify the popularity and variability of these approaches in infant neuroimaging studies, we performed a systematic review of infant MRI studies from 2000 to 2020. Here, we present results from 833 studies meeting inclusion criteria. Studies were classified into 1) processing data in single subject space, 2) using a predefined, or off the shelf, template, 3) creating a study specific template or 4) using a hybrid of these methods. We found that across the studies in the systematic review, single subject space was the most used (no common space). This was the most used common space for DWI and structural MRI studies while fMRI studies preferred off the shelf atlases. We found a pattern such that more recently published studies are more commonly using off the shelf atlases. When considering special populations, preterm studies most used single subject space while, when no special populations were being analyzed, an off the shelf template was most common. The most used off the shelf templates were the UNC Infant Atlases (26.1 percent). Using a systematic review of infant neuroimaging studies, we highlight a lack of an established standard template brain in these studies.

Selective responses to faces, scenes, and bodies in the ventral visual pathway of infants

“…Due to the substantial distortion in these data and the lack of an anatomical image from many subjects, we registered all functional data to a representative functional image collected with the same coil and acquisition parameters (referred to as the functional template image). As there is no standard approach to the use of common space in infant MRI research, 55 we elected to use a template image collected with the same acquisition parameters as each subject. For Coil 2011 data, the functional template image was the same image used by Deen and colleagues.…”