Hi Raka,
> It appears that
> i) for pediatric studies with low sample sizes, it's preferable to
> create a template using TOM for statistical analysis and then interpret
> results for anatomical location based on visual inspection of the
> neuroanatomy of the template.
That about sums it up, although strictly speaking, the template/priors
are only used for preprocessing, not for statistics.
> ii) for pediatric studies with very large sample sizes, creating a
> custom template could be an option but interpretation of results for
> anatomical location will still be based on visual inspection of the
> neuroanatomy of the template.
Overall, yes, although even when creating one's own template, the
assumptions of the algorithm used for creating the custom template
should be carefully evaluated. Segmenting baby's brains based on adult
data will result in a baby brain template, but not necessarily an
unbiased one.
> Do you have any suggestions for a good pediatric brain atlas ?
Overall brain anatomy on the macroscopic scale is rather similar between
children (beyond the first couple of years of life) and adults. That of
course disregards the finer points, but if you find a brain atlas that
details, in 4 dimensions, the structural and functional development of
the human brain, I would love to see that. There are of course
electronic resources that Google links to, such as
http://www.seattlechildrens.org/healthcare-professionals/education/radiology/pediatricbrainatlas/
or www.stjude.org/brainatlas (which looks interesting but is currently
unreachable)
Hope this helps,
Marko
--
=====================================================================
Marko Wilke (Dr.med./M.D.)
[log in to unmask]
Universitäts-Kinderklinik University Children's Hospital
Abt. III (Neuropädiatrie) Dept. III (Pediatric neurology)
Hoppe-Seyler-Str. 1, D - 72076 Tübingen
Tel.: (+49) 07071 29-83416 Fax: (+49) 07071 29-5473
=====================================================================
|