Fig. 3.

Signal dropout recovery after optimal combination of multi-echo time series datasets across the age range. a shows the benefit of using an optimally combined slice stack over a typical slice stack of an EPI volume collected at an echo time of 28ms, with arrows pointing to significant areas of signal improvement. b further displays the improvement in EPI quality by showing slices in ventral regions at three echo times and the action of the $T_2^{*}$ weighting filter in combining the echoes at those slices, compensating for signal dropout in these regions for datasets of subjects across the age range