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Understanding Your Amazing puts some people at risk for health problems, and to learn What is MRI?

what makes some people able to recover from difficult
Brain: The Promise of the experiences more easily than other people do. MRI, short for magnetic resonance imaging, is a
In March 2020, all of our lives changed dramatically
procedure that uses magnets to take three-dimensional
because of the coronavirus called COVID-19. This gave
(3D) pictures of the body. MRI scans do not use radiation
ABCD Study the ABCD Study researchers an unexpected opportunity or x-rays, and they’re safe and painless. Researchers in
to learn how kids’ and teens’ experiences related to the
the ABCD Study use MRI to collect 3D images of the
COVID-19 pandemic affect them now and in the future.
Because the COVID-19 situation is always changing, the brain. Some of the MRI scans in the ABCD Study collect
pictures of the brain that show details about its physical
researchers are asking the ABCD Study participants and structures. Another type of MRI, called functional MRI
The human brain is the most complex organ in researchers in the fields of adolescent development, families questions about these experiences every month. (fMRI), lets researchers see which parts of the brain are
the body. It’s made up of eighty-five billion nerve cells, psychology, and neuroscience to launch the Adolescent In the four years since the ABCD Study began, active while a person plays a game or does a task.
or neurons. Neurons in the brain connect to each other, Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD Study). researchers have already started to understand more about
creating a complex network that allows people to make Starting in 2016, ABCD Study researchers enrolled nearly how certain traits and experiences (such as sleep, art and The MRI scanner is about the size of a play tunnel. Once
art, feel emotion, and solve problems. Every one of us has a 12,000 kids ages nine and ten. For ten years, researchers music education, family conflict, and screen time) relate a person is inside, the researcher checks to make sure
unique brain network that makes us who we are. will work with these youth to understand the different to brain differences and other outcomes like the ability to the person feels as comfortable as possible. Then the
When you’re born, you have a different brain than you’ll influences that affect their brain development and their learn and understand new information, and problems with researcher moves to a room nearby to take the pictures.
During the scans, the person must lie perfectly still so
have as an adult. A baby’s brain starts out with at least 100 general health. Researchers will use magnetic resonance mental health. [To learn about one of these findings, check the machine can collect very clear images of their brain.
billion neurons. By age three, your brain has approximately imaging (MRI; see box) to study the kids’ brain structure and out the article in this issue titled, “Music’s Harmony on the The MRI scanner makes a lot of noise, which is caused
one quadrillion connections called “synapses”—many more function, and their biological and behavioral development. Developing Brain: Data From the ABCD Study.”] by vibrating metal coils inside the machine. It can
than you need. As you grow and your brain develops, some Researchers use questionnaires to ask youth about their So far, most of these studies have only looked at these sound like a foghorn! Many people wear earbuds and
synapses get stronger, but many others are gradually lost. physical and mental health; their experiences with sports, things at a single point in time. But because the ABCD headphones to block out the sound.
This is normal! By the time you’re twelve years old, your art and music classes, and any drug use; and their family, Study is collecting data over many years, researchers will be
brain has reached its full physical size—but, as you have school, and neighborhood environments, among other able to examine how these experiences change the brain How does MRI see the
new experiences as a teen and young adult, your brain things. as people grow up. By helping us examine and understand
connections continue to be refined well into your twenties. the amazingly complex brain, the ABCD Study may help brain so well?
Researchers will also ask them to play certain games to
We know all this, and much more, thanks to measure their brain and cognitive function and will collect future generations of teens to live better, healthier lives. A computer program uses the MRI pictures of the brain
neuroscience—the study of the nervous system, which biospecimens (such as blood, saliva, etc.) to examine the to create high-definition 3D images. The images show
includes your brain. But there’s still a lot to figure out, effects of genetics, puberty, and exposure to things such the physical structures in the brain from top
especially about the developing brain in children and as heavy metals (lead, for example) and drugs of abuse to bottom and from side to side. Pictures from
teens. That’s because new experiences influence how on brain development. The researchers will continue to an fMRI can show what the brain looks like
the brain develops. And kids and teens have a lot of new monitor these areas every year or two until the youth are while a person is thinking about something
experiences! Whether those experiences are exciting, nineteen and twenty years old. like a funny joke or a difficult math problem,
baffling, overwhelming, or frightening, they shape who or while playing a game. When part of the
you are and who you’ll become—usually without you even The Promise of the ABCD Study brain is working hard, it needs more oxygen,
realizing it.
The youth participating in the ABCD Study are as diverse just like your lungs need more oxygen when
A look into the growing brain as the United States. Approximately half are female, 15 they’re working hard. fMRI lets scientists
percent are Black, 20 percent are Hispanic, and 52 percent see when a part of the brain is using more
How exactly do these changes happen in the brain? are white. Participants come from seventeen different or less oxygen. For example, when you do
Scientists and researchers at the National Institutes states, from big cities and small towns, and from different a math problem, more oxygen flows to the
of Health (NIH) are trying to answer this question and economic backgrounds. A large and diverse study like this parts of your brain that are working to solve
many others. The NIH—the government agency that makes it possible to investigate what contributes to normal the problem. If you do this while having an
supports research about the body and behavior—funded differences in brain development, to understand what fMRI, scientists can see your brain “in action.”
So, fMRI helps scientists see which parts of
the brain are important for thinking about
By Gayathri J. Dowling, Ph.D. different things.
Director, Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study
Division of Extramural Research
National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institutes of Health Art by Gaya Dowling