Strengths and challenges of longitudinal non-human primate neuroimaging

Highlights • Strengths and challenges of longitudinal non-human primate MRI are described. • Statistical power calculation of longitudinal and cross-sectional designs are provided. • The impact of template choice on grey matter estimation is demonstrated. • Recommendations for designing and analysing such studies are provided.
Longitudinal non-human primate neuroimaging has the potential to greatly enhance our understanding of primate brain structure and function. Here we describe its specific strengths, compared to both cross-sectional non-human primate neuroimaging and longitudinal human neuroimaging, but also its associated challenges. We elaborate on factors guiding the use of different analytical tools, subject-specific versus age-specific templates for analyses, and issues related to statistical power.