For the 2-5 year age range, I would still recommend using the infant pipeline. In the recent release, where infantFS was merged with the main FS branch we have included additional templates that represent the >2 age range. This paper found that the adult pipeline, with careful QC-ing and high-quality input images, can already handle images of 4.5yr olds and up: [Ghosh SS, Kakunoori S, Augustinack J, Nieto-Castanon A, Kovelman I, Gaab N, Christodoulou JA, Triantafyllou C, Gabrieli JD, Fischl B. Evaluating the validity of volume-based and surface-based brain image registration for developmental cognitive neuroscience studies in children 4 to 11 years of age. Neuroimage. 2010 Oct 15;53(1):85-93. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2010.05.075. Epub 2010 Jun 4. PMID: 20621657; PMCID: PMC2914629.]

From: Yoonho Hwang <ken.lmstar11@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 18, 2025 12:15 PM
To: freesurfer@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu <freesurfer@nmr.mgh.harvard.edu>
Subject: [Freesurfer] Questions for analyzing pediatric data

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Dear FreeSurfer experts,

Hello,

I hope this message finds you well.

I am planning to perform FreeSurfer analyses across a range of pediatric age groups. It is recommended to use the adult FreeSurfer pipeline for individuals aged 5 and older, and the infant FreeSurfer pipeline for those up to 2 years of age. Which pipeline should be used for analyzing pediatric subjects between the ages of 2 and 5? Additionally, could you recommend any papers that provide guidelines or age criteria for pipeline selection?