Summary: A new study highlights how brain age models can track healthy infant development and reveal environmental influences. Using MRI data from over 600 term and preterm infants, researchers trained machine learning models to predict brain age and identify gaps between predicted and actual ages.

These brain age gaps can indicate whether an infant’s development is faster or slower than expected, with maternal age emerging as a significant influencing factor. Advanced brain development was linked to better cognitive abilities but poorer emotional regulation, suggesting that following normative developmental trajectories may be ideal.