Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40506530›Full record

ArticleCommunications biology2025

Evaluating analytic strategies to obtain high-resolution, vertex-level measures of cortical neuroanatomy in children in low- and middle-income countries.

Charlotte M Pretzsch, František Váša, Michael Brammer, Lucy Brink, Mandy Potter, Wendy Mackay, Petrusa Smit, Carolina Du Plessis, Marcelle Wagner, Deborah Jonker and 11 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Communications biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Brain-age in ultra-low-field MRI: How well does it work?Imaging neuroscience (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

21 authors.

Charlotte M PretzschDepartment of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK. Charlotte.Pretzsch@kcl.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2761-6628
František VášaDepartment of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6744-7139
Michael BrammerDepartment of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Lucy BrinkDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Mandy PotterDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Wendy MackayDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Petrusa SmitDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Carolina Du PlessisDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Marcelle WagnerDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Deborah JonkerDepartment of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Kirsten A DonaldDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health & Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0276-9660
Freda SchefflerDepartment of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8898-8599
Cindy PhamDepartment of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0271-9230
Viola HollesteinDepartment of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Eva Loth *Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
Declan Gm Murphy *Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6664-7451
Hein J Odendaal *Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
Elizabeth R Sowell *Department of Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Priscilla E Springer *Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8882-5688
Dan J Stein *Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7218-7810
Christine Ecker *Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Funding

Prenatal Alcohol in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Stillbirth (PASS) NetworkU01HD045935 · NICHD · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH DAKOTA · PI ELLIOTT, AMY J · 2003 to 2015
$16.9M
Prenatal Alcohol in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Stillbirth (PASS) NetworkU01AA016501 · NIAAA · STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY · PI ODENDAAL, HENDRIK JOHANNES · 2006 to 2015
$10.0M
Safe PASSage Study Administrative Supplement - Effects of Overnight Maternal SleeU01HD055154 · NICHD · DM-STAT, INC. · PI DUKES, KIMBERLY A. · 2006 to 2017
$9.7M
Prenatal Alcohol Sudden Infant Death Syndrome/StillbirthU01HD045991 · NICHD · CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL BOSTON · PI KINNEY, HANNAH CHASE · 2003 to 2015
$8.4M
Prenatal Alcohol in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and Stillbirth (PASS) NetworkU01HD055155 · NICHD · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI FIFER, WILLIAM P., MYERS, MICHAEL MORGAN · 2006 to 2015
$7.1M
Brain and Cognitive Development in the PASS Cohort: The Impact of PrenatalAlcohol ExposureR01AA025653 · NIAAA · CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF LOS ANGELES · PI ELIZABETH R SOWELL · 2017 to 2026
$5.4M
Gates Foundation INV-032788NIAAA NIH HHS R01 AA025653NIAAA NIH HHS U01 AA016501NICHD NIH HHS U01 HD045935NICHD NIH HHS U01 HD045991NICHD NIH HHS U01 HD055154NICHD NIH HHS U01 HD055155
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

High-field magnetic resonance imaging to explore brain structure and function remains limited to high-resource settings. Novel, low-field (<0.1 T) imaging offers a more cost-effective/accessible alternative. However, the validity of low-field data at spatial resolutions relevant to research and clinic (vertex-level) remains unclear. Hence, we examine paired high-field (reference) and low-field (single/multi-orientation scans processed through established/novel pipelines) data (12 children [10-12 yrs] in a low- and middle-income country [LMIC]). We assess high-field/low-field correspondence between vertex-level measures of cortical volume, surface area, and cortical thickness; and compare analytic strategies. High/low-field images show weak-to-moderate global correspondence (cortical volume, surface area: Pearson's r ≤ 0.6, cortical thickness r ≤ 0.3), and weak-to-very strong local correspondence (r ≤ 0.99). Greatest correspondence is achieved with multi-orientation images and a pipeline adjusted for low-resolution images (recon-all-clinical); or image enhancement (SynthSR) plus standard processing (FastSurfer); but agreement varies across brain based on input, analytic strategy, and neuroanatomical feature. We provide an application to interactively explore our results. Thus, low-field imaging can provide reliable, high-resolution estimates of cortical volume and surface area, but not cortical thickness; and analytic approaches should be selected based on multiple considerations. Once validated, this research may help deploy low-field imaging to aid research/evidence-based clinical work in high- and low-resource settings, including LMIC.

Indexed as

Cerebral CortexMagnetic Resonance ImagingNeuroanatomyChildDeveloping CountriesFemaleHumansMale

Identifiers

PMID40506530
PMCPMC12162832

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.