The construction of MRI brain/head templates for Chinese children from 7 to 16 years of age.
Population-specific brain templates that provide detailed brain information are beneficial to both structural and functional neuroimaging research. However, age-specific MRI templates have not been constructed for Chinese or any Asian developmental populations. This study developed novel T1-weighted average brain and head templates for Chinese children from 7 to 16 years of age in two-year increments using high quality magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and well-validated image analysis techniques. A total of 138 Chinese children (51 F/87 M) were included in this study. The internally and externally validated registrations show that these Chinese age-specific templates fit Chinese children's MR images significantly better than age-specific templates created from U.S. children, or adult templates based on either Chinese or North American adults. It implies that age-inappropriate (e.g., the Chinese56 template, the US20-24 template) and nationality-inappropriate brain templates (e.g., U.S. children's templates, the US20-24 template) do not provide optimal reference MRIs for processing MR brain images of Chinese pediatric populations. Thus, our age-specific MRI templates are the first of the kind and should be useful in neuroimaging studies with children from Chinese or other Asian populations. These templates can also serve as the foundations for the construction of more comprehensive sets of nationality-specific templates for Asian developmental populations. These templates are available for use in our database.
Department of Psychology, and Institute for Mind and Brain, University of South Carolina, United States; Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China. Electronic address: xiew@mailbox.sc.edu.
Wanze
W
Xie
Department of Psychology, and Institute for Mind and Brain, University of South Carolina, United States.
John E
JE
Richards
Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China.
Du
D
Lei
Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China; Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China. Electronic address: hyzhu_hmrrc@126.com.
Hongyan
H
Zhu
Department of Human Development and Applied Psychology, and Dr. Eric Jackman Institute of Child Study, University of Toronto, Canada.
Kang
K
Lee
Huaxi MR Research Center (HMRRC), Department of Radiology, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, China; Department of Psychology, School of Public Administration, Sichuan University, China.
Qiyong
Q
Gong
D000293:Adolescent; D044466:Asian People; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D059907:Functional Neuroimaging; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D059906:Neuroimaging / Q000379:methods*
Average brain/head templates; Chinese children and adolescents; Structural MRI