Causation, trait correlation, and translation: Developmental brain imaging in research on neuropsychiatric conditions of childhood
An irresistible but elusive promise of the field of developmental neuroimaging is to advance mechanistic understanding of neuropsychiatric conditions of childhood, toward translation to higher-impact intervention. In this article we wish to address a diversity of perspectives on that promise, which...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878929325000088 |
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| Summary: | An irresistible but elusive promise of the field of developmental neuroimaging is to advance mechanistic understanding of neuropsychiatric conditions of childhood, toward translation to higher-impact intervention. In this article we wish to address a diversity of perspectives on that promise, which were expressed in a summarizing forum of the Fetal, Infant, and Toddler Neuroimaging Group (FIT’NG) conference in Santa Rosa, CA in September 2023. We organize our remarks according to three contemporary paradoxes: (1) the contrasting implications of neural correlates of development that reflect causes versus effects (or epiphenomena) of behavioral atypicality; (2) the interpretation of transient deviations in brain development that are associated with enduring developmental traits; and (3) the intensifying pursuit of discovery of neural correlates of behavior in an era of still-limited capacity to manipulate the course of early brain and behavioral development. In the article we leverage examples of recent advances in brain and behavioral science that help reconcile progress, skepticism, and hope as an emerging field matures and attracts new scientists into its ranks. |
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| ISSN: | 1878-9293 |