PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Qinlin Yu
AU  - Minhui Ouyang
AU  - John A. Detre
AU  - Huiying Kang
AU  - Di Hu
AU  - Bo Hong
AU  - Fang Fang
AU  - Yun Peng
AU  - Hao Huang
TI  - Infant brain regional cerebral blood flow dynamics supporting emergence of vital functional networks
AID  - 10.1101/2021.02.08.430158
DP  - 2022 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2021.02.08.430158
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/03/21/2021.02.08.430158.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/03/21/2021.02.08.430158.full
AB  - Human infancy is characterized by most rapid cerebral blood flow (rCBF) increases across lifespan and emergence of a fundamental brain system default-mode network (DMN). However, how infant rCBF change spatiotemporally across the brain and how the rCBF dynamics support emergence of vital functional networks such as DMN remains unknown. Here, by acquiring cutting-edge multi-modal MRI including pseudo-continuous arterial-spin-labeled perfusion MRI and resting-state functional MRI of infants aged 0 to 24 months, we elucidated unprecedented 4D spatiotemporal infant rCBF framework and region-specific physiology-function coupling across infancy. We found faster rCBF increases in the DMN than other regions. We also found strongly coupled increases of rCBF and network strength specifically in the DMN, suggesting faster local blood flow increase to meet extra neuronal metabolic demands in the DMN maturation. These results offer insights into physiological mechanism of brain functional network emergence and have important implications in altered network maturation in brain disorders.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.