Brain development
How reliable are children's brain scans across different scanners?
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
Brain scans of children show adult-like functional networks that reliably predict cognitive ability, though scanner differences significantly alter these patterns.
Study at a glance
- Design
- Cross-sectional — ABCD multi-site discovery/replication analysis of childhood functional networks vs cognition
- N
- N=2188 · 2,188 children (1,166 discovery; 1,022 replication) across 21 sites after motion criteria
- Population
- Children in the ABCD study with resting-state fMRI and cognitive scores
- Outcome
- Reproducible network–cognition relations alongside large scanner-manufacturer variance
Structured fields used in claim comparison tables when every cited study has a complete layer.
Key findings
Group-averaged functional networks were highly reproducible between the discovery and replication sets. However, the researchers discovered that scanner manufacturer accounted for a major portion of brain signal variance, with Siemens scanners showing stronger short-distance connections and GE or Philips scanners displaying stronger long-distance connections. Additionally, children with higher general cognitive scores showed stronger anticorrelations between the default mode and dorsal attention networks.
Methodology
Researchers evaluated brain scans and cognitive scores of a sample of 2,188 children. They divided the children into a discovery group of 1,166 participants and a replication group of 1,022 participants who met strict head-motion criteria. The team scanned the participants across 21 sites to evaluate how scanner manufacturers, biological sex, and cognitive performance affected functional connectivity measurements.
Limitations
While the study successfully identifies robust, group-level networks, it cannot establish a causal link between brain connectivity patterns and cognitive abilities. The findings are limited to a cohort of late childhood, meaning these patterns might shift during later stages of development or puberty. Furthermore, the systematic differences across scanner manufacturers remain unexplained and could reflect hardware or software differences rather than biological variance.
How this study connects
Role on claims
Each row is a claim on a concept or method page where this paper supports, challenges, or qualifies the statement. Roles are hand-checked — not a model guess.
Normal cognitive development is associated with strong functional segregation, represented by robust anticorrelations between the DMN and attention-focused networks.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
While group-averaged networks appear highly reproducible, scanner hardware differences (such as Siemens vs. GE or Philips) produce conflicting results regarding the strength of short-distance versus long-distance connectivity across sites.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
Large-scale functional brain networks in children are highly reproducible and show adult-like structural organization, with individual differences in default mode and dorsal attention network interactions predicting general cognitive performance.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
The physical hardware used in neuroimaging, specifically the manufacturer of the MRI scanner, can systematically distort functional connectivity measurements by biasing the apparent strength of short- versus long-distance connections.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
Open questions
Tensions this paper is part of
From concept pages' “where studies disagree.” Disagreement means the same question; scope means different assays, populations, or outcomes.
While group-averaged networks appear highly reproducible, scanner hardware differences (such as Siemens vs. GE or Philips) produce conflicting results regarding the strength of short-distance versus long-distance connectivity across sites.
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