Population Brain Perfusion Imaging: Arterial Spin Labeling in UK Biobank

UK Biobank is an ongoing study which will acquire brain imaging in 100,000 participants, along with detailed lifestyle, biochemical and genetic information, and long-term health records. Here we describe the recent addition of arterial spin labeling (ASL) perfusion imaging to UK Biobank, with preliminary analyses of the first ~3,500 subjects. These revealed a range of highly significant associations between ASL metrics and non-imaging measures (e.g., blood pressure), as well as other imaging measures (e.g., white matter hyperintensity volume). This should become a useful resource for studying perfusion differences across a population and prior to disease onset.