Design of the brain imaging protocol was conducted through broad consultation with neuroimaging experts and required careful balance of a range of considerations, often specifically relating to the high throughput nature of UK Biobank. In setting up the pilot protocol, the primary challenge was to achieve the target of one participant scanned every 36 minutes without serious compromise to data quality compared to research protocols that might conventionally require up to an hour of scan time. Despite these tight time constraints, we aimed to include as many MRI modalities as possible, to take advantage of the full richness of information that can be provided by MRI. Here, we highlight the primary considerations that required a different approach from more conventional imaging studies.
