CENTER FOR RESEARCH IN
COGNITION & NEUROSCIENCES/ConnexConnex

Neuroimaging in toddlers and young children is very challenging and thus there is a dearth of studies on brain function in preschool aged children. We have found that the advent of wearable, movement-resistant, optically pumped magnetometer (OPM) technology has revolutionised developmental neuroimaging. I will present some of our data focussed on children 1-5 years of age (n>200), including young children with autism, using child-friendly protocols: video-based resting states, moving visual circles (which elicit gamma band activity) and emotional faces. We are finding significant age-related changes in periodic, evoked and aperiodic signals that vary with brain region and relate to emerging behaviours. OPMs are transforming neuroimaging research in toddlers and young children and will greatly advance our understanding of brain-behaviour relations over the early years of life.

Neuroimaging in toddlers and young children is very challenging and thus there is a dearth of studies on brain function in preschool aged children. We have found that the advent of wearable, movement-resistant, optically pumped magnetometer (OPM) technology has revolutionised developmental neuroimaging. I will present some of our data focussed on children 1-5 years of age (n>200), including young children with autism, using child-friendly protocols: video-based resting states, moving visual circles (which elicit gamma band activity) and emotional faces. We are finding significant age-related changes in periodic, evoked and aperiodic signals that vary with brain region and relate to emerging behaviours. OPMs are transforming neuroimaging research in toddlers and young children and will greatly advance our understanding of brain-behaviour relations over the early years of life.