Developmental coupling of cerebral blood flow and fMRI fluctuations in youth

The functions of the human brain are metabolically expensive and reliant on coupling between cerebral blood flow (CBF) and neural activity, yet how this coupling evolves over development remains unexplored. Here, we examine the relationship between CBF, measured by arterial spin labeling, and the amplitude of low -frequency fluctuations (ALFF) from resting-state magnetic resonance imaging across a sample of 831 children (478 females, aged 8-22 years) from the Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort. We first use locally weighted regressions on the cortical surface to quantify CBF-ALFF coupling. We relate coupling to age, sex, and executive functioning with generalized additive models and assess network enrichment via spin testing. We demonstrate regionally specific changes in coupling over age and show that variations in coupling are related to biological sex and executive function. Our results highlight the importance of CBFALFF coupling throughout development; we discuss its potential as a future target for the study of neuropsychiatric diseases.

Automated summary

We explore the relationship between cerebral blood flow (CBF) and the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF), and find specific changes in coupling over age, which are related to biological sex and executive function. This highlights the importance of CBF-ALFF coupling throughout development and its potential as a target for studying neuropsychiatric diseases.