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This study assessed microstructural development in four regions of the human cerebral cortex during preterm maturation using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), compared to the macrostructural development of cortical gyration evaluated using three-dimensional volumetric T1-weighted MR imaging. Thirty-seven premature infants of estimated gestational age (EGA) ranging from 25 to 38 weeks were prospectively enrolled and imaged in an MR-compatible neonatal incubator with a high-sensitivity neonatal head coil. Cortical gyration was measured quantitatively as the ratio of gyral height to width on the volumetric MR images in four regions bilaterally (superior frontal, superior occipital, precentral, and postcentral gyri). Mean diffusivity (D_av), fractional anisotropy (FA—the fraction of D_av that is anisotropic), and the three DTI eigenvalues (components of diffusivity radial and tangential to the pial surface of cortex) were …