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Milham, M. P.

Publications and source records attributed to Milham, M. P..

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Moving Beyond Processing and Analysis-Related Variation in Neuroscience

When fields lack consensus standard methods and accessible ground truths, reproducibility can be more of an ideal than a reality. Such has been the case for functional neuroimaging, where there exists a sprawling space of tools and processing pipelines. We provide a critical evaluation of the impact of differences across five independently developed minimal preprocessing pipelines for functional MRI. We show that even when handling identical data, inter-pipeline agreement was only moderate, critically shedding light on a factor that limits cross-study reproducibility. We show that low inter-pipeline agreement mainly becomes appreciable when the reliability of the underlying data is high, which is increasingly the case as the field progresses. Crucially, we show that when inter-pipeline agreement is compromised, so too are the consistency of insights from brainwide association studies. We highlight the importance of comparing analytic configurations, as both widely discussed and commonly overlooked decisions can lead to marked variation.

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A low-resource reliable pipeline to democratize multi-modal connectome estimation and analysis

Connectomics--the study of brain networks--provides a unique and valuable opportunity to study the brain. Research in human connectomics, leveraging functional and diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), is a resource-intensive practice. Typical analysis routines require significant computational capabilities and subject matter expertise. Establishing a pipeline that is low-resource, easy to use, and off-the-shelf (can be applied across multifarious datasets without parameter tuning to reliably estimate plausible connectomes), would significantly lower the barrier to entry into connectomics, thereby democratizing the field by empowering a more diverse and inclusive community of connectomists. We therefore introduce MRI to Graphs (m2g). To illustrate its properties, we used m2g to process MRI data from 35 different studies ({approx} 6,000 scans) from 15 sites without any manual intervention or parameter tuning. Every single scan yielded an estimated connectome that adhered to established properties, such as stronger ipsilateral than contralateral connections in structural connectomes, and stronger homotopic than heterotopic correlations in functional connectomes. Moreover, the connectomes estimated by m2g are more similar within individuals than between them, suggesting that m2g preserves biological variability. m2g is portable, and can run on a single CPU with 16 GB of RAM in less than a couple hours, or be deployed on the cloud using its docker container. All code is available on https://github.com/neurodata/m2g and documentation is available on docs.neurodata.io/m2g.

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Vertex-wise characterization of Non-Human Primate cortical development with prenatal insights.

Characterization of the interwoven complexities of early cortical thickness development has been an ongoing undertaking in neuroscience research. Longitudinal studies of Non-Human Primates (NHP) offer unique advantages to categorizing the diverse patterns of cortical growth trajectories. Here, we used latent growth models to characterize the trajectories of typical cortical thickness development in Japanese macaques at each cortical surface vertex (i.e. grayordinate). Cortical thickness from 4 to 36 months showed regional specific linear and non-linear trajectories and distinct maturation timing across the cortex. Intriguingly, we revealed a "accumulation/ablation phenomenon" of cortical maturation where the most profound development changes in cortical thickness occur in the accumulation or ablation zones surrounding the focal points (i.e., a center of a delineated regions where cortical thickness is thickest or thinnest) throughout the brain. We further examined maternal diet and inflammation in the context of these typical brain trajectories and known network architecture. A well-controlled NHP model of a maternal "Western-style" diet was used alongside measures of inflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) in the mothers during gestation. We observed that these accumulation and ablation zones of variable change might be most susceptible to environmental effects. The maternal factors, diet and inflammation during pregnancy were distinctively associated with different aspects of offspring cortical development reflected in regions related to distinctive functional networks. Our findings characterize the versatile intricacies of typical cortical thickness development and highlight how the maternal environment plays a role in offspring cortical development.

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Dissociable Multi-scale Patterns of Development in Personalized Brain Networks

The brain is organized into networks at multiple resolutions, or scales, yet studies of functional network development typically focus on a single scale. Here, we derived personalized functional networks across 29 scales in a large sample of youths (n=693, ages 8-23 years) to identify multi-scale patterns of network re-organization related to neurocognitive development. We found that developmental shifts in inter-network coupling systematically adhered to and strengthened a functional hierarchy of cortical organization. Furthermore, we observed that scale-dependent effects were present in lower-order, unimodal networks, but not higher-order, transmodal networks. Finally, we found that network maturation had clear behavioral relevance: the development of coupling in unimodal and transmodal networks dissociably mediated the emergence of executive function. These results delineate maturation of multi-scale brain networks, which varies according to a functional hierarchy and impacts cognitive development.

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Predicting multimodal MRI outcomes in children with neurodevelopmental conditions following MRI simulator training

Pediatric brain imaging holds significant promise for understanding neurodevelopment. However, the requirement to remain still inside a noisy, enclosed scanner remains a challenge. Verbal or visual descriptions of the process, and/or practice in MRI simulators are the norm in preparing children. Yet, the factors predictive of successfully obtaining neuroimaging data remain unclear. We examined data from 250 children (6-12 years, 197 males) with autism and/or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Children completed systematic MRI simulator training aimed to habituate to the scanner environment and minimize head motion. An MRI session comprised multiple structural, resting-state, task and diffusion scans. Of the 201 children passing simulator training and attempting scanning, nearly all (94%) successfully completed the first structural scan in the sequence, and 88% also completed the following resting state fMRI scan. The number of successful scans decreased as the sequence progressed. Multivariate analyses revealed that age was the strongest predictor of successful scans in the session, with younger children having lower success rates. After age, sensorimotor atypicalities contributed most to prediction. Results provide insights on factors to consider in designing pediatric brain imaging protocols.

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U-Net Model for Brain Extraction on Non-human Primates

Brain extraction (a.k.a. skull stripping) is a fundamental step in the neuroimaging pipeline as it can affect the accuracy of downstream preprocess such as image registration, tissue classification, etc. Most brain extraction tools have been designed for and applied to human data and are often challenged by non-human primates (NHP) data. Amongst recent attempts to improve performance on NHP data, deep learning models appear to outperform the traditional tools. However, given the minimal sample size of most NHP studies and notable variations in data quality, the deep learning models are very rarely applied to multi-site samples in NHP imaging. To overcome this challenge, we used a transfer-learning framework that leverages a large human imaging dataset to pretrain a convolutional neural network (i.e. U-Net Model), and then transferred this to NHP data using a small NHP training sample. The resulting transfer-learning model converged faster and achieved more accurate performance than a similar U-Net Model trained exclusively on NHP samples. We improved the generalizability of the model by upgrading the transfer-learned model using additional training datasets from multiple research sites in the Primate Data-Exchange (PRIME-DE) consortium. Our final model outperformed brain extraction routines from popular MRI packages (AFNI, FSL, and FreeSurfer) across a heterogeneous sample from multiple sites in the PRIME-DE with less computational cost (20s~10min). We also demonstrated the transfer-learning process enables the macaque model to be updated for use with scans from chimpanzees, marmosets, and other mammals (e.g. pig). Our model, code, and the skull-stripped mask repository of 136 macaque monkeys are publicly available for unrestricted use by the neuroimaging community at https://github.com/HumanBrainED/NHP-BrainExtraction.

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Remote Digital Psychiatry: MindLogger for Mobile Mental Health Assessment and Therapy

BackgroundUniversal access to assessment and treatment of mental health and learning disorders remains a significant and unmet need. There is a vast number of people without access to care because of economic, geographic, and cultural barriers as well as limited availability of clinical experts who could help advance our understanding of mental health. ObjectiveTo create an open, configurable software platform to build clinical measures, mobile assessments, tasks, and interventions without programming expertise. Specifically, our primary requirements include: an administrator interface for creating and scheduling recurring and customized questionnaires where end users receive and respond to scheduled notifications via an iOS or Android app on a mobile device. Such a platform would help relieve overwhelmed health systems, and empower remote and disadvantaged subgroups in need of accurate and effective information, assessment, and care. This platform has potential to advance scientific research by supporting the collection of data with instruments tailored to specific scientific questions from large, distributed, and diverse populations. MethodsWe conducted a search for tools that satisfy the above requirements. We designed and developed a new software platform called "MindLogger" that exceeds the above requirements. To demonstrate the tools configurability, we built multiple "applets" (collections of activities) within the MindLogger mobile application and deployed several, including a comprehensive set of assessments underway in a large-scale, longitudinal, mental health study. ResultsOf the hundreds of products we researched, we found 10 that met our primary requirements above with 4 that support end-to-end encryption, 2 that enable restricted access to individual users data, 1 that provides open source software, and none that satisfy all three. We compared features related to information presentation and data capture capabilities, privacy and security, and access to the product, code, and data. We successfully built MindLogger mobile and web applications, as well as web browser-based tools for building and editing new applets and for administering them to end users. MindLogger has end-to-end encryption, enables restricted access, is open source, and supports a variety of data collection features. One applet is currently collecting data from children and adolescents in our mental health study, and other applets are in different stages of testing and deployment for use in clinical and research settings. ConclusionsWe have demonstrated the flexibility and applicability of the MindLogger platform through its deployment in a large-scale, longitudinal, mobile mental health study, and by building a variety of other mental health-related applets. With this release, we encourage a broad range of users to apply the MindLogger platform to create and test applets to advance health care and scientific research. We hope that increasing availability of applets designed to assess and administer interventions will facilitate access to health care in the general population.

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The Contribution of Brain Structural and Functional Variance in Predicting Age, Sex and Treatment

Structural and functional neuroimaging have been widely used to track and predict demographic and clinical variables, including treatment outcomes. However, it is often difficult to directly establish and compare the respective weights and contributions of brain structure and function in prediction studies. The present study aimed to directly investigate respective roles of brain structural and functional indices, along with their contributions in the prediction of demographic variables (age/sex) and clinical changes of schizophrenia patients. The present study enrolled 492 healthy people from Southwest University Adult Lifespan Dataset (SALD) for demographic variables analysis and 42 patients with schizophrenia from West China Hospital for treatment analysis. We conducted a model fit test with two variables (one voxel-based structural metric and another voxel-based functional metric) and then performed a variance partitioning on the voxels that can be predicted sufficiently. Permutation tests were applied to compare the contribution difference between each pair of structural and functional measurements. We found that voxel-based structural indices had stronger predictive value for age and sex, while voxel-based functional metrics showed stronger predictive value for treatment. Therefore, through variance partitioning, we could clearly and directly explore and compare the voxel-based structural and functional indices on particular variables. In sum, for long-term change variable (age) and constant biological feature (sex), the voxel-based structural metrics would contribute more than voxel-based functional metrics; but for short-term change variable (schizophrenia treatment), the functional metrics could contribute more.

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Thalamus is a common locus of reading, arithmetic, and IQ: Analysis of local intrinsic functional properties

Neuroimaging studies of basic achievement skills, reading and arithmetic, often control for the effect of IQ to identify unique neural correlates of each skill. This may underestimate possible effects of common factors between achievement and IQ measures on neuroimaging results. Here, we simultaneously examined achievement (reading and arithmetic) and IQ measures in young adults, aiming to identify MRI correlates of their common factors. Resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) data were analyzed using two metrics assessing local intrinsic functional properties; regional homogeneity (ReHo) and fractional amplitude low frequency fluctuation (fALFF), measuring local intrinsic functional connectivity and intrinsic functional activity, respectively. ReHo highlighted the thalamus/pulvinar (a subcortical region implied for selective attention) as a common locus for both achievement skills and IQ. More specifically, the higher the ReHo values, the lower the achievement and IQ scores. For fALFF, the left superior parietal lobule, part of the dorsal attention network, was positively associated with reading and IQ. Collectively, our results highlight attention-related regions, particularly the thalamus/pulvinar as a key region related to individual differences in performance on all the three measures. ReHo in the thalamus/pulvinar may serve as a tool to examine brain mechanisms underlying a comorbidity of reading and arithmetic difficulties, which could co-occur with weakness in general intellectual abilities. HighlightsO_LIAchievement (reading; arithmetic) and IQ measures are simultaneously examined; not controlling for IQ. C_LIO_LIReHo and fALFF are used to examine local intrinsic functional connectivity and activity, respectively. C_LIO_LIHigher ReHo in thalamus/pulvinar is associated with lower performance on all the three measures. C_LIO_LIHigher fALFF in the left superior parietal lobule is associated with higher word reading and IQ. C_LI

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Reliability of dynamic network reconfiguration: Impact of code implementation, parameter selection, scan duration, and task condition

Multilayer network models have been proposed as an effective means of capturing the dynamic configuration of distributed neural circuits and quantitatively describing how communities vary over time. Beyond general insights into brain function, a growing number of studies have begun to employ these methods for the study of individual differences. However, test-retest reliabilities for multilayer network measures have yet to be fully quantified or optimized, potentially limiting their utility for individual difference studies. Here, we systematically evaluated the impact of multilayer community detection algorithms, selection of network parameters, scan duration, and task condition on test-retest reliabilities of multilayer network measures (i.e., flexibility, integration, and recruitment). A key finding was that the default method used for community detection by the popular generalized Louvain algorithm can generate erroneous results. Although available, an updated algorithm addressing this issue is yet to be broadly adopted in the neuroimaging literature. Beyond the algorithm, the present work identified parameter selection as a key determinant of test-retest reliability; however, optimization of these parameters and expected reliabilities appeared to be dataset-specific. Once parameters were optimized, consistent with findings from the static functional connectivity literature, scan duration was a much stronger determinant of reliability than scan condition. When the parameters were optimized and scan duration was sufficient, both passive (i.e., resting state, Inscapes, and movie) and active (i.e., flanker) tasks were reliable, although reliability in the movie watching condition was significantly higher than in the other three tasks. The minimal data requirement for achieving reliable measures for the movie watching condition was 20 min, and 30 min for the other three tasks. Our results caution the field against the use of default parameters without optimization based on the specific datasets to be employed - a process likely to be limited for most due to the lack of test-retest samples to enable parameter optimization. HighlightsO_LIDynamic network reliability is highly dependent on many methodological decisions C_LIO_LIThe default multilayer community detection algorithm generates erroneous results C_LIO_LIReliability-optimized intra-/inter-layer coupling parameters are dataset-dependent C_LIO_LIScan duration is a much stronger determinant of reliability than scan condition C_LIO_LIMovies are the most reliable condition, requiring at least 20 min of data C_LI

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Cross-species Functional Alignment Reveals Evolutionary Hierarchy Within the Connectome

Evolution provides an important window into how cortical organization shapes function and vice versa. The complex mosaic of changes in brain morphology and functional organization that have shaped the mammalian cortex during evolution, complicates attempts to chart cortical differences across species. It limits our ability to fully appreciate how evolution has shaped our brain, especially in systems associated with unique human cognitive capabilities that lack anatomical homologues in other species. Here, we demonstrate a function-based method for cross-species cortical alignment that leverages recent advances in understanding cortical organization and that enables the quantification of homologous regions across species, even when their location is decoupled from anatomical landmarks. Critically, our method establishes that cross-species similarity in cortical organization decreases with geodesic distance from unimodal systems, and culminates in the most pronounced changes in posterior regions of the default network (angular gyrus, posterior cingulate and middle temporal cortices). Our findings suggest that the establishment of the default network, as the apex of a cognitive hierarchy, as is seen in humans, is a relatively recent evolutionary adaptation. They also highlight functional changes in regions such as the posterior cingulate cortex and angular gyrus as key influences on uniquely human features of cognition.

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Relative Concentration of Brain Iron (rcFe) Derived from Standard Functional MRI.

Brain iron plays key roles in catecholaminergic neurotransmitter synthesis and early life brain development. It is also central to cellular energetics and neurotransmitter metabolism throughout the lifespan. Disturbances in brain iron have been implicated in a growing number of psychiatric and late-life neurodegenerative disorders. Additionally, brain iron accumulations are thought to play a deleterious role in neuroinflammatory processes in later life. Despite its importance, the role of brain iron in development, aging, and psychiatric disorders remains comparatively understudied. This is partly due to technical challenges inherent in implementation and analysis of formal iron imaging protocols and practical constraints on scan session durations. Here, we introduce a method to estimate relative brain iron concentrations that is 1) computationally simple, 2) shows excellent correspondence with formal iron imaging in-vivo, 3) replicates clinically-relevant findings from formal iron imaging, 4) yields novel insights into brain iron and cognition across the lifespan, and 5) leverages a widely available and frequently shared brain imaging modality: functional MRI. The computationally simple nature of the measure, coupled with the availability of fMRI datasets across the lifespan and disorders, has the potential to transform our understanding of the complex and critical relationship between iron and brain health.

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Brain Age Prediction: Cortical and Subcortical Shape Covariation in the Developing Human Brain

Cortical development is characterized by distinct spatial and temporal patterns of maturational changes across various cortical shape measures. There is a growing interest in summarizing complex developmental patterns into a single index, which can be used to characterize an individuals brain age. We conducted this study with two primary aims. First, we sought to quantify covariation patterns for a variety of cortical shape measures, including cortical thickness, gray matter volume, surface area, mean curvature, and travel depth, as well as white matter volume, and subcortical gray matter volume. We examined these measures in a sample of 869 participants aged 5-18 from the Healthy Brain Network (HBN) neurodevelopmental cohort using the Joint and Individual Variation Explained (Lock et al., 2013) method. We validated our results in an independent dataset from the Nathan Kline Institute - Rockland Sample (NKI-RS; N=210) and found remarkable consistency for some covariation patterns. Second, we assessed whether covariation patterns in the brain can be used to accurately predict a persons chronological age. Using ridge regression, we showed that covariation patterns can predict chronological age with high accuracy, reflected by our ability to cross-validate our model in an independent sample with a correlation coefficient of 0.84 between chronologic and predicted age. These covariation patterns also predicted sex with high accuracy (AUC=0.85), and explained a substantial portion of variation in full scale intelligence quotient (R2=0.10). In summary, we found significant covariation across different cortical shape measures and subcortical gray matter volumes. In addition, each shape measure exhibited distinct covariations that could not be accounted for by other shape measures. These covariation patterns accurately predicted chronological age, sex and general cognitive ability. In a subset of NKI-RS, test-retest (<1 month apart, N=120) and longitudinal scans (1.22 {+/-} 0.29 years apart, N=77) were available, allowing us to demonstrate high reliability for the prediction models obtained and the ability to detect subtle differences in the longitudinal scan interval among participants (median and median absolute deviation of absolute differences between predicted age difference and real age difference = 0.53 {+/-} 0.47 years, r=0.24, p-value=0.04).

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Electric field dynamics in the brain during multi-electrode transcranial electric stimulation

Neural oscillations play a crucial role in communication between remote brain areas. Transcranial electric stimulation with alternating currents (TACS) can manipulate these brain oscillations in a non-invasive manner. Of particular interest, TACS protocols using multiple electrodes with phase shifted stimulation currents were developed to alter the connectivity between two or more brain regions. Typically, an increase in coordination between two sites is assumed when they experience an in-phase stimulation and a disorganization through an anti-phase stimulation. However, the underlying biophysics of multi-electrode TACS has not been studied in detail, thus limiting our ability to develop a mechanistic understanding. Here, we leverage direct invasive recordings from two non-human primates during multi-electrode TACS to show that the electric field magnitude and phase depend on the phase of the stimulation currents in a non-linear manner. Further, we report a novel phenomenon of a \"traveling wave\" stimulation where the location of the electric field maximum changes over the stimulation cycle. Our results provide a basis for a mechanistic understanding of multi-electrode TACS, necessitating the reevaluation of previously published studies, and enable future developments of novel stimulation protocols.

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Passive Audio Vocal Capture and Measurement in the Evaluation of Selective Mutism

Selective Mutism (SM) is an anxiety disorder often diagnosed in early childhood and characterized by persistent failure to speak in certain social situations but not others. Diagnosing SM and monitoring treatment response can be quite complex, due in part to changing definitions of and scarcity of research about the disorder. Subjective self-reports and parent/teacher interviews can complicate SM diagnosis and therapy, given that similar speech problems of etiologically heterogeneous origin can be attributed to SM. The present perspective discusses the potential for passive audio capture to help overcome psychiatrys current lack of objective and quantifiable assessments in the context of SM. We present evidence from two pilot studies indicating the feasibility of using a digital wearable device to quantify child vocalization features affected by SM. We also highlight limitations in the design and implementation of this preliminary work that can help guide future efforts.

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Balancing Strengths and Weaknesses in Dimensional Psychiatry

ObjectiveTo evaluate the feasibility and value of creating an extensible framework for psychiatric phenotyping that indexes both strengths and weaknesses of behavioral dimensions. The Extended Strengths and Weaknesses Assessment of Normal Behavior (E-SWAN) reconceptualizes each diagnostic criterion for selected DSM-5 disorders as a behavior, which can range from high (strengths) to low (weaknesses). Initial efforts have focused on Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety, Major Depression, and Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder.\n\nMethodsData were collected from 523 participants (ages: 5-21 years old) in the Child Mind Institute Healthy Brain Network - an ongoing community-referred study. Parents completed each of the four E-SWAN scales and traditional unidirectional scales addressing the same disorders. Distributional properties, Item Response Theory Analysis (IRT) and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves (for diagnostic prediction) were used to assess and compare the performance of E-SWAN and traditional scales.\n\nResultsIn contrast to the traditional scales, which exhibited truncated distributions, all four E-SWAN scales were found to have near-normal distributions. IRT analyses indicate the E-SWAN subscales provided reliable information about respondents throughout the population distribution; in contrast, traditional scales only provided reliable information about respondents at the high end of the distribution. Predictive value for DSM-5 diagnoses was comparable to prior scales.\n\nConclusionE-SWAN bidirectional scales can capture the full spectrum of the population distribution for DSM disorders. The additional information provided can better inform examination of inter-individual variation in population studies, as well as facilitate the identification of factors related to resiliency in clinical samples.

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A multi-modal approach to decomposing standard neuropsychological test performance: Symbol Search

Neuropsychological test batteries provide normed assessments of cognitive performance across multiple functional domains. Although each test emphasizes a certain component of cognition, a poor score can reflect many possible processing deficits. Here we explore the use of simultaneous eye tracking and EEG to decompose test performance into interpretable, components of cognitive processing. We examine the specific case of Symbol Search, a \"processing speed\" subtest of the WISC, which involves searching for the presence of either of two target symbols among five search symbols. To characterize the signatures of effective performance of the test, we asked 26 healthy adults to perform a computerized version of it while recording continuous EEG and eye tracking. We first established basic gaze-shifting patterns in the task, such as more frequent and prolonged fixation of each target than each search symbol, and longer search symbol fixations and overall trial duration for target-absent trials. We then entered multiple such metrics into a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) analysis, which revealed that short trial completion times were mainly predicted by longer initial fixations on the targets and fewer subsequent confirmatory saccades directed back to the targets. Further, the tendency to make confirmatory saccades was associated with stronger gamma-amplitude modulation by mid-frontal theta-phase in the EEG during initial target symbol encoding. Taken together, these findings indicate that efficient Symbol Search performance depends more on effective memory encoding than on general \"processing speed\".

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Clinically Useful Brain Imaging for Neuropsychiatry: How Can We Get There?

Despite decades of research, visions of transforming neuropsychiatry through the development of brain imaging-based growth charts or lab tests have remained out of reach. In recent years, there is renewed enthusiasm about the prospect of achieving clinically useful tools capable of aiding the diagnosis and management of neuropsychiatric disorders. The present work explores the basis for this enthusiasm. We assert that there is no single advance that currently has the potential to drive the field of clinical brain imaging forward. Instead, there has been a constellation of advances that, if combined, could lead to the identification of objective brain imaging-based markers of illness. In particular, we focus on advances that are helping to: 1) elucidate the research agenda for biological psychiatry (e.g., neuroscience focus, precision medicine), 2) shift research models for clinical brain imaging (e.g., big data exploration, standardization), 3) break down research silos (e.g., open science, calls for reproducibility and transparency), and 4) improve imaging technologies and methods. While an arduous road remains ahead, these advances are repositioning the brain imaging community for long-term success.

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