MRI study to provide world's largest pediatric brain development database

The University of Maryland and 20 other U.S. academic institutions will conduct the largest pediatric brain development study of its kind to analyze how actions, such as playing video games and sleeping, affect a child's brain development, according to a recent article by The Baltimore Sun.  

Researchers plan to recruit 11,500 kids between 9 and 10 years old to participate in the study, known as the "ABCD Study for Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development." Once complete, the study will provide the largest database available for researchers around the world. 

According to study methods, the children will answer questions, provide saliva samples to measure hormone levels and undergo MRI brain scans over the next decade. A team of more than a dozen people at the University of Maryland plan to recruit roughly 600 kids. 

“[This study] will answer so many questions about brain development,” explained Linda Chang, MD, MS, co-lead author of the study and neurologist at the University of Maryland, to The Baltimore Sun. “We’ll see, for example, if children who sleep less than six hours a night have their memories affected or if those who do drugs have trouble paying attention in school.”

The study is made possible by a $300 million donation from National Institutes of Health agencies, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Justice and 20-plus institutions where the children are being recruited for the study, according to the article.