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Updated: Jun 10, 2025
Infant Auditory Processing and Event-related Brain Oscillations
Published on: July 1, 2015
Spatiotemporal cerebral blood flow dynamics underlies emergence of the limbic-sensorimotor-association cortical
Minhui Ouyang1,2, John A Detre2,3, Jessica L Hyland1
1Department of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Insights
Infant cerebral blood flow (CBF) follows a hierarchical pattern, increasing with development. This study maps CBF dynamics, linking them to infant motor, language, and cognitive skills.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Infant cerebral blood flow (CBF) is crucial for rapid brain development.
- The organizational principles of whole-brain CBF dynamics in infants are not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the organizing principles of whole-brain CBF dynamics during infancy.
- To reveal the emergence of the cortical hierarchy using high-resolution CBF maps.
- To establish a standardized reference for infant brain CBF.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a cohort of over 100 infants.
- Employed high-resolution arterial spin labeled magnetic resonance imaging (ASL MRI).
- Generated high-resolution infant CBF maps to analyze cortical blood flow patterns.
Main Results:
- Discovered the emergence of a cortical hierarchy in infant CBF.
- Observed a biphasic pattern of CBF increase across cortical regions.
- Identified a gradient in break-point ages along the limbic-sensorimotor-association cortical axis.
- Correlated increased CBF in sensorimotor areas with language/motor skills and in frontoparietal areas with cognitive skills.
Conclusions:
- The study reveals the hierarchical organization of infant brain CBF.
- Provides a standardized reference for infant brain CBF.
- Offers insights into the physiological basis of cortical specialization and infant development.
Abstract:
Infant cerebral blood flow (CBF) delivers nutrients and oxygen to fulfill brain energy consumption requirements for the fastest period of postnatal brain development across the lifespan. However, organizing principle of whole-brain CBF dynamics during infancy remains obscure. Leveraging a unique cohort of 100+ infants with high-resolution arterial spin labeled MRI, we find the emergence of the cortical hierarchy revealed by the highest-resolution infant CBF maps available to date. Infant CBF across cortical regions increases in a biphasic pattern featured by initial rapid and subsequently slower rate, and break-point ages increasing along the limbic-sensorimotor-association cortical gradient. Increases in CBF in sensorimotor cortices are associated with enhanced language and motor skills, and frontoparietal association cortices with cognitive skills. The study discovers emergence of the hierarchical limbic-sensorimotor-association cortical gradient in infancy and offers standardized reference of infant brain CBF and insight into the physiological basis of cortical specialization and real-world infant developmental functioning.
