Wearable Scanner Provides Clearest Ever Picture of Children’s Developing Brain

Recent research using wearable brain scanners offers new insights into children’s brain development, tracking how critical milestones are linked to brain activity and exploring the foundations of neurodevelopmental conditions like autism.

New research has provided the most detailed view yet of the developing brains of young children by using a wearable brain scanner to chart electrical activity. This study paves the way for new methods to monitor how essential developmental milestones, such as walking and talking, are supported by evolving brain functions, and to explore the origins of neurodevelopmental conditions like autism.

The research team used a novel design of magnetoencephalography (MEG) scanner to measure brain electrophysiology in children as young as two. Scientists from the University of Nottingham’s School of Physics and Astronomy led the study, and the findings were published in the journal eLife.