Multi-visit Advanced Pediatric Brain Imaging Study

Brain development in the first years of life is the most dynamic and perhaps the most important phase of postnatal brain development. In this time period there is a significant increase in overall brain size (with the brain reaching 80-90% of adult volume by age two) and the rapid development of a wide range of cognitive and motor functions. The ability to document brain development during this period of rapid and critical modification is absolutely essential to shed light on our understanding of brain development. This information not only offers profound scientific implications regarding our understanding of how the brain orchestrates the complex functional and cognitive developments but also provides great insights into possible mechanisms and etiology of developmental disorders. While results have been reported in the literature along these directions, two major limitations are associated with these studies. First, most of the studies