During early infancy, rapid increases of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) supports the metabolic needs for the dramatic maturation of infant brains. In this study, we delineated the developmental pattern of infant’s rCBF from 0-18months, with an optimized 3D multi-shot, stack-of-spirals pCASL sequence for high-resolution rCBF at isotropic 2.5mm. Significant age-related rCBF increases were found during this period. The rCBF growth rates were inhomogeneous across the cortex, with faster maturation rates in the heteromodal association cortex and slower in unimodal sensorimotor cortices. Cortical regions with more rapid rCBF growth were associated with faster microstructural maturation of adjacent white matter.
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