FAQs

We receive funding from outsides agencies, such as:

• The National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center (IDDRC) at Washington University
• Cerebral Palsy International Research Foundation
• The Dana Foundation
• The Child Neurology Foundation
• The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation

Yes. However, we encourage just you and your child to come visit us, as this will allow our WUNDER Lab team to best focus on you and your child. If you do need to bring in siblings, we ask that you let us know in advance so we can make the necessary arrangements for you and your family.

Your information may provide additional information that will be helpful in understanding the relationship between MRI findings at birth and early childhood development. Additionally, developmental testings are recorded to assist the examiner with scoring the assessment.

To help protect your child’s confidentiality, each participant’s data and information will be maintained in a locked cabinet in a locked office. If we write a report or article about a study or share data with others, we will do so in such a way that you and your child cannot be directly identified.

After testing, you should receive your child’s results through the mail. If you are expecting results and have not received any, please contact our research coordinator, Jessica Perkins.

Currently, the WUNDER Lab is not recruiting any participants. 

If your child undergoes developmental testing, you will be compensated $100. If your child receives an MRI scan, you will be compensated another $100 for your participation. 

For the eLABE study:

• $100 for MRI scan at birth and $125 for MRI scan at age 2 years.
• $100 for your child’s 1st and 2nd year developmental follow-up testing, and $125 for the 3rd year developmental testing.
• A $20 gift card for every stool sample and set of surveys provided from home, for a total of 11 stool samples and 6 sets of surveys.
• If you complete all research activities you can receive up to $890 over three years.

Please contact one of our WUNDER Lab Directors, Cynthia Rogers or Christopher Smyser, if you are interested in donating to the WUNDER Lab.

Visit our Resources page and scroll down to Informational Resources. Click the Children’s Health drop down menu to explore a few medical resources at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.

Please click here and scroll down to Maps and Parking.

Washington University in St. Louis has an Institutional Review Board (IRB) that reviews and approves all of the WUNDER Lab’s protocols and procedures.

It is a test that uses powerful magnets, radio waves, and a computer to make detailed pictures inside your body. It generally takes 90 minutes.

Prior to your infant’s MRI scan, we will have you feed your infant so that their belly is nice and full.  This is important because we get the best data if your baby is sleeping and content, and a nice full belly helps with both of these. Once you are finished feeding your baby, we will remove their clothing, swaddle them in two blankets and wrap them in a papoose.  We need to do this because we can’t have any metal in the scanner.  We will also place neonatal earmuffs on your infant to protect their hearing. A nurse will monitor your baby’s heart rate and oxygen during the entire scan and we will also monitor via a video camera and sound system located in the scanner. The scan itself will take approximately 60 minutes but we allow 90 minutes for transport to and from the scanner.

Your child will lie on a table that will then slide into the MRI scanner. When  in the scanner, staff will monitor your child at all times. Fans will circulate air through the tunnel.

The machine makes knocking noises, which are very loud. Your child will be provided with tools to block out as much noise as possible. Once enough images have been obtained, the table will slide out of the tunnel and the MRI will be over.

There is no radiation danger with an MRI scan and is safer than other types of imaging like an X-ray or CAT scan. 

Yes, you can be in the MRI room with your child, but most parents choose to stay in the waiting room. 

Check out this MRI instruction video. It should answer this question.

Unfortunately, the MRI scans are required to be in the study.