Pediatric Functional Neuroimaging: A Trans-NIH Workshop

Introduction
The purpose of this conference—co-sponsored by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), and National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)—was to foster translational research involving pediatric functional brain development using functional neuroimaging, which focused on both normal brain development and developmental deviations across a variety of disorders. This exchange opened up opportunities for coordinated efforts involving comparison of disorders and ages across sites. Speakers at this conference concentrated on design and analysis issues for pediatric development studies, domains and key paradigms with high clinical relevance, advances in fMRI and integration of imaging across modalities, and data sharing. A selection of the presentations made at this meeting appear below.

fMRI of Normal Language Development in Children
Scott K. Holland, Ph.D.

Development of Cognitive and Neural Processes Underlying Conflict Resolution
B.J. Casey, Ph.D.

Brain Imaging Studies of Developmentally Based Psychopathologies
Bradley S. Peterson, M.D.

Mapping Cortical Development Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Jeffrey J. Neil, M.D., Ph.D.

Pediatric Applications of MRS
Stephen R. Dager, M.D.

The NIH MRI Study of Normal Brain Development
Alan C. Evans, Ph.D.