Four-year longitudinal performance of a population-based sample of healthy children on a neuropsychological battery: the NIH MRI study of normal brain development

J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2012 Mar;18(2):179-90. doi: 10.1017/S1355617711001536.

Abstract

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Study of Normal Brain Development is a landmark study in which structural and metabolic brain development and behavior are followed longitudinally from birth to young adulthood in a population-based sample of healthy children. Cross-sectional findings from the neuropsychological test battery have been previously described (Waber et al., 2007). The present report details 4-year longitudinal neuropsychological outcomes for those children who were aged 6 to 18 years at baseline (N = 383), of whom 219 (57.2%) completed all 3 visits. Primary observations were (1) individual children displayed considerable variation in scores across visits on the same measures; (2) income-related differences were more prominent in the longitudinal than in the cross-sectional data; (3) no association between cognitive and behavioral measures and body mass index; and (4) several measures showed practice effects, despite the 2-year interval between visits. These data offer an unparalleled opportunity to observe normative performance and change over time on a set of standard and commonly used neuropsychological measures in a population-based sample of healthy children. They thus provide important background for the use and interpretation of these instruments in both research settings and clinical practice.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Age Factors
  • Body Mass Index
  • Brain / anatomy & histology*
  • Brain / growth & development*
  • Child
  • Child Development / physiology*
  • Cognition / physiology*
  • Community Health Planning
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging*
  • Male
  • National Institutes of Health (U.S.)
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Sex Factors
  • Statistics, Nonparametric
  • United States