Best practices in clinical developmental structural neuroimaging

Structural magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI) offers immense potential for increasing our understanding of how anatomical brain development relates to clinical symptoms of neurodevelopmental disorders, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conduct disorder (CD), and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD). Clinical developmental sMRI may help identify neurobiological risk factors or markers that may ultimately assist in diagnosis and treatment. However, researchers and clinicians aiming to conduct clinical developmental sMRI studies face several methodological challenges. This review offers hands-on guidelines for clinical developmental sMRI. First, we present brain morphometry metrics and review evidence on typical developmental trajectories throughout adolescence, together with atypical trajectories in ADHD, CD, and ODD. Next, we discuss challenges and good scientific practices in study design, image acquisition and analysis, and recent options to implement quality control. Finally, we discuss the impact of choices on statistical analysis and interpretation of results. We call for greater completeness and transparency in methods reports to advance understanding of brain structural alterations in neurodevelopmental disorders.