title: The potential of infant fMRI research and the study of early life stress as a promising exemplar.
abstract: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) research with infants and toddlers has increased rapidly over the past decade, and provided a unique window into early brain development. In the current report, we review the state of the literature, which has established the feasibility and utility of task-based fMRI and resting state functional connectivity MRI (rs-fcMRI) during early periods of brain maturation. These methodologies have been successfully applied beginning in the neonatal period to increase understanding of how the brain both responds to environmental stimuli, and becomes organized into large-scale functional systems that support complex behaviors. We discuss the methodological challenges posed by this promising area of research. We also highlight that despite these challenges, early work indicates a strong potential for these methods to influence multiple research domains. As an example, we focus on the study of early life stress and its influence on brain development and mental health outcomes. We illustrate the promise of these methodologies for building on, and making important contributions to, the existing literature in this field.
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97239, United States. Electronic address: grahaal@ohsu.edu.
authors.forename: Alice M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, 1715 Franklin Boulevard, Eugene, OR 97403, United States.
authors.forename: Jennifer H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Pfeifer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, 1715 Franklin Boulevard, Eugene, OR 97403, United States.
authors.forename: Philip A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.affiliation: Departments of Radiology and Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States.
authors.forename: Weili
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Departments of Radiology and Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, United States.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Oregon, 1715 Franklin Boulevard, Eugene, OR 97403, United States; Department of Psychiatry, Oregon Health and Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97239, United States; Advanced Imaging Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Road, Portland, OR 97239, United States.
authors.forename: Damien A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Fair
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*
keywords: Developmental neuroimaging; Developmental neuroscience; Early life stress; Infancy; Natural sleep fMRI; Resting state functional connectivity MRI