Huge thanks to the incredible team of 50 co-authors who made this possible! Special thanks to our lab replicator + dMRI guru @cieslakmatt.bsky.social, the UMN team led by @drdamienfair.bsky.social, and my incredibly supportive postdoc advisor @ted-satterthwaite.bsky.social! Preprint: bit.ly/3QMLG0K

Takeaway #4: These data are openly available! To lower barriers, we release ABCC on NBDC/LASSO: - >24,000 processed dMRI scans - advanced microstructural metrics - tractography + tabular summaries Together, this is a major new resource for reproducible developmental neuroimaging.

Takeaway #3: Image quality is more complicated than it seems. Some commonly used QC covariates can bias developmental inference. If you are using advanced measures of microstructure (e.g., ICVF) it may not be necessary to include an image quality covariate in analyses.

Takeaway #2: Not all dMRI measures of microstructure are the same! Measures from advanced multi-shell models are more sensitive to development, more consistent with each other, and more robust to noise than tensor-derived measures. These should be prioritized in analyses!

Takeaway #1: Harmonization is essential in multisite dMRI data! Scanner effects are large and spatially structured; they can distort developmental patterns and reduce generalizability unless addressed carefully.

In ABCD, acquisition batch, age, and quality are partially aligned with one another. Given this collinearity, we found that including these age- and batch-aligned quality covariates can attenuate true developmental effects without mitigating noise in the data.

We compared automated QC metrics vs extensive manual ratings (😮‍💨) To our surprise (and joy!), dMRI contrast explains more microstructural variance than expert ratings. Automated QC can outperform visual inspection at scale – saving hours of manual inspection.

How sensitive are dMRI metrics to quality? FA was most susceptible to image quality. Notably, FA was most related to dMRI contrast, and NOT motion. In contrast, advanced metrics like ICVF were overall much more robust to image quality – another plus of moving beyond the tensor.

Different scanners tell the same story; but what about different diffusion metrics? Advanced metrics like ICVF, RTOP, and MKT, exhibited high convergence (ρ ≥ 0.93) in their spatial patterns of development. However, tensor metrics like FA and MD were less consistent.

Do these developmental effects replicate across scanners? Before harmonization, only modestly. After harmonization: near-perfect correspondence across vendors.

With our harmonized data, we asked: which metrics best capture development? Advanced dMRI metrics (ICVF, MKT, and RTOP) showed much stronger age effects (>3x!!!) than traditional tensor metrics (FA and MD). Bottom line?: Metric choice strongly impacts sensitivity to development.

Given these scanner differences, harmonization is essential! In unharmonized data, acquisition batch explained up to 70% of microstructural variance. We used cutting-edge longitudinal nonlinear harmonization, which eliminated these effects while preserving developmental effects.

ABCD has > 60 scanner batches (unique devices / software versions)!!! There were large differences in quality between scanner vendors (GE, Siemens, and Philips). In GE, image quality was related to software version, which itself was related to age! More on that later…

Data are distributed in the ABCD-BIDS Community Collection (ABCC). Derivatives include preprocessed images, over 30 microstructural maps from 4 software tools, 60+ white matter bundles, tidy tabular summaries of bundle-wise measures, and 40 automated image quality metrics.

We are pleased to announce that BIDS Extension Proposal 28 - Provenance is open for community review! github.com/bids-standar... The review period is open from April 20 - May 1. #bids #neuroimaging #provenance

We are pleased to announce that BIDS Extension Proposal 32 - Microelectrode Electrophysiology is open for community review! github.com/bids-standar... The review period is open from April 20 - May 1. #bids #neuroimaging #electrophysiology

Diffusion MRI (dMRI) is a powerful tool to study white matter maturation. In our new preprint, we process and distribute a new resource of >24,000 ABCD dMRI scans using open source tools! We then evaluate how methods shape inferences about development. 🔗 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Introducing...the PMADS Study!! Check out our preprint and below thread describing our multimodal study protocol integrating MRIs at 3T and 7T, biofluid collection, and clinical and cognitive assessments to characterize risk for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. Congrats @noemirubau.bsky.social!

The PMADS Project: A Longitudinal Multimodal Cohort Study to Understand Risk for Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.04.10.717834v1

We've got a Town Hall coming up April 23rd 10:00am (CT)! Join the action to hear about our updates to the Coordinate Based Meta-analysis Algorithms and our work on Image Based Meta-Analysis on the platform! utexas.zoom.us/meeting/regi... #neuroscience #meta-analysis #openscience

A systematic meta-analysis is hard work—and curation is often the hardest part. Y'all know this better than anyone, and we want to make it easier. What’s one specific piece of information you consistently had to find or extract from every paper? Tell us about it: tally.so/r/QKVbQG #neuroscience

Applications for NeuroHackademy 2026 are now open! This is a two-week NIH-funded summer experience that combines neuroimaging and data science in a summer school / experiential hackathon: neurohackademy.org/apply/ @uwpsychology.bsky.social @uwescience.bsky.social

Statistical Machine Learning post doc positions, w/ Oxford BDI-Novartis Collaboration for AI in Medicine, working on building causal predictive models for MS using a massive clinical trials MRI dataset. Join us on this unique collaboration! my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru... my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

New paper in Imaging Neuroscience by James D. Kent, Alejandro de la Vega, et al: Neurosynth Compose: A web-based platform for flexible and reproducible neuroimaging meta-analysis doi.org/10.1162/IMAG...

You can check this out now: compose.neurosynth.org We're continuing to add even more features to streamline and automate meta-analysis-- making it a key part of every scientist's toolkit!

Anatomical White Matter Tracts Span the Cortical Hierarchy to Support Cognitive Diversity https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.20.695692v1

Big things coming in 2026 🚀: 1️⃣ More support for image-based meta-analysis 🖼️ 2️⃣ Categorical and semantic search for studies (e.g., filter by number of participants, task descriptions) 🔍 3️⃣ Explicit filters for PET/VBM 🧠 4️⃣ A searchable gallery of already run meta-analyses (a la O.G. NeuroSynth) 📚

As the year comes to a close, we are taking stock of what we've done and what we are looking forward to in 2026. (One thing we are looking forward to is our January 22nd TownHall! Register here: bit.ly/ns-townhall). Keep reading for some fun stats! ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

Connect with #BIDS @bidsstandard.bsky.social at #ebrainsSummit2025 summit with INCF in Brussels this week. Come learn more about the Brain Imaging Data Standard and join the community - BIDS Bounties available! Cc @incforg.bsky.social

💡🎥🎭 We have a short video series to help you get a jump-start on your Meta-Analyses! www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

This January! You could be shivering in a post-holiday slump... or You could be hacking on the beach* with us in sunny Hollywood, FL! ☀️🏝️ Applications are due Dec. 1, so head on over to abcd-repronim.github.io/ABCDReproNim... to learn more.

BIG news- applications for our hackathon are NOW OPEN🎉 Apply now to join us in Florida in January 2026! The deadline for applications is DECEMBER 1st🚨 so apply today! For more info & to apply, check out Hackathon.ABCD-ReproNim.org 🎊

🧠I am excited to announce that our manuscript introducing a new data resource – PennLEAD (Penn Longitudinal Executive functioning in Adolescent Development) – is now available on bioRxiv. Below are some details highlighting our data resource🧵funded by NIMH R01MH113550 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

An Open, Fully-processed, Longitudinal Data Resource to Study Brain Development and Transdiagnostic Executive Function https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.10.687633v1

Truly heroic work by the stellar @cieslakmatt.bsky.social + the HBCD dMRI working group team. Refactored QSIPrep + QSIRecon is the result of nearly 3y of concerted development + testing. It will be a total workhorse for HBCD -- and almost any other dMRI scan. Check it out for your data!!!

QSIPrep and QSIRecon are usable beyond HBCD. Code, containers, and documentation are openly available. github.com/PennLINC/qsi..., github.com/PennLINC/qsi...

After years of development and testing, we are happy to present our work in "Diffusion MRI Processing in the HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study: Innovations and Applications"! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1.... A thread:

New layer-fMRI preprint using deep sampling to track face information across layers in FFA. 50 times 15 min scanning with whole brain VASO and BOLD fMRI. By Kenshu Koiso et al. doi.org/10.1101/2025...

🗳️ Polls are OPEN for the 2025 @BIDSCommunity Steering Group Election! We're electing two new members to help guide the future of BIDS. 📊✨ If you're a contributor, check your inbox for your ballot (let us know if you have not received it). Voting closes October 31st! 👉 Review candidates:

🎤 Calling Multi-Echo fMRI Researchers 🎤 Preparing for OHBM? Get expert feedback before the deadline! 🌟 Tedana devs will possibly host a multi-echo meeting on Dec 8th to make sure your abstract is perfect for submission. Interested? DM me or other tedana devs! #neuroskyence #neuroimaging

We are pleased to announce that BIDS Extension Proposal 42 - Electromyogrpahy is open for community review! github.com/bids-standar... The review period is open from September 29 - October 10. #bids #neuroimaging #electromyography #emg

We are pleased to announce that BIDS Extension Proposal 20 - Eye Tracking is open for community review! github.com/bids-standar... The review period is open from September 29 - October 10. #bids #neuroimaging #eyetracking

I'm officially recruiting grad students in FIU's Cognitive Neuroscience PhD program! 🧠✨ The @bottenlab.bsky.social uses precision and population approaches to study neurodevelopmental variability. Reach out if interested! (contact info on bottenlab.github.io) Apps due 12/1! cn.fiu.edu (pls share)

New Open dataset alert: 🧠 Introducing "Spacetop" – a massive multimodal fMRI dataset that bridges naturalistic and experimental neuroscience! N = 101 x 6 hours each = 606 functional iso-hours combining movies, pain, faces, theory-of-mind and other cognitive tasks! 🧵below

@BIDSCommunity, it’s time to nominate 🏆and elect 🗳️two new Steering Group members! The nomination period opened on September 3rd and will close on Friday, September 19th at 11:59pm (Anywhere on Earth; UTC-12). 👉Nominate yourself here: forms.gle/vFNjKCNuP29L...

BIDS v1.10.1 is released! This release includes a large number of minor improvements accumulated over the last year. See bids-specification.readthedocs.io/en/stable/CH... for a summary. #BIDS #BrainImagingDataStructure #neuroimaging #neuroinformatics

Excited to share our latest preprint: "Neurosynth Compose: A Web-Based Platform for Flexible and Reproducible Neuroimaging Meta-Analysis" Here, we cover the why, what, and how of the next generation Neurosynth ecosystem for reproducible neuroimaging meta-analysis. osf.io/preprints/os...

How does the human brain coordinate hierarchical cortical development? Our work in Nature Neuroscience identifies a role for thalamocortical structural connectivity in the expression of hierarchical periods of cortical plasticity & environmental receptivity in youth 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Amelie Rauland (all star via IRTG student w/ @sbe.bsky.social ) will be presenting "Benchmarking Reconstruction Methods for Bundle Segmentation in Single-Shell dMRI" on Friday and Saturday, Poster #1283

@bencephalon.bsky.social from @aarona-b.bsky.social 's lab will be presenting "Integrating clinical and research imaging to uncover neuroanatomic deviations in 22q11.2 deletions" Wed, June 25, 13:15 -15:15 & Thurs, June 26, 13:45 -15:45; Poster #697