Little is known about cerebral blood flow, cerebral blood volume (CBV), oxygenation, and oxygen consumption in the premature newborn brain. We combined quantitative frequency-domain near-infrared spectroscopy measures of cerebral hemoglobin oxygenation ((SO_2)) and CBV with diffusion correlation spectroscopy measures of cerebral blood flow index ((BF_{ix})) to determine the relationship between these measures, gestational age at birth (GA), and chronological age. We followed 56 neonates of various GA once a week during their hospital stay. We provide absolute values of (SO_2) and CBV, relative values of (BF_{ix}), and relative cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen ((rCMRO_2)) as a function of postmenstrual age (PMA) and chronological age for four GA groups. (SO_2) correlates with chronological age (r=−0.54, P value (\leq)0.001) but not with PMA (r=−0.07), whereas (BF_{ix}) and (rCMRO_2) correlate better with PMA (r=0.37 and 0.43, respectively, P value (\leq)0.001). Relative (CMRO_2) during the first month of life is lower when GA is lower. Blood flow index and (rCMRO_2) are more accurate biomarkers of the brain development than (SO_2) in the premature newborns.
