RESEARCH ARTICLE
Brain Development in Childhood
Yasuyuki Taki1, 2, 3, *, Ryuta Kawashima2, 4, 5
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2012Volume: 6
First Page: 103
Last Page: 110
Publisher ID: TONIJ-6-103
DOI: 10.2174/1874440001206010103
PMCID: PMC3499734
Article History:
Received Date: 10/7/2012Revision Received Date: 28/8/2012
Acceptance Date: 2/9/2012
Electronic publication date: 14/11/2012
Collection year: 2012

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Although human brain development continues throughout childhood and adolescence, it is a non-linear process both structurally and functionally. Here we review studies of brain development in healthy children from the viewpoint of structure and the perfusion of gray and white matter. Gray matter volume increases and then decreases with age, with the developmental time of the peak volume differing among brain regions in the first and second decades of life. On the other hand, white matter volume increase is mostly linear during those periods. As regards fractional anisotropy, most regions show an exponential trajectory with aging. In addition, cerebral blood flow and gray matter volume are proportional at similar developmental ages. Moreover, we show that several lifestyle choices, such as sleeping habits and breakfast staple, affect gray matter volume in healthy children. There are a number of uninvestigated important issues that require future study.