Functional Laterality of Task-Evoked Activation in Sensorimotor Cortex of Preterm Infants: An Optimized 3 T fMRI Study Employing a Customized Neonatal Head Coil.

Background: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in neonates has been introduced as a non-invasive method for studying sensorimotor processing in the developing brain. However, previous neonatal studies have delivered conflicting results regarding localization, lateralization, and directionality of blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) responses in sensorimotor cortex (SMC). Amongst the confounding factors in interpreting neonatal fMRI studies include the use of standard adult MR-coils providing insufficient signal to noise, and liberal statistical thresholds, compromising clinical interpretation at the single subject level.