Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 18, 2026
Modeling Encephalopathy of Prematurity Using Prenatal Hypoxia-ischemia with Intra-amniotic Lipopolysaccharide in Rats
Published on: November 20, 2015
The relationship between periventricular brain injury and deficits in visual processing among
L S Jakobson1, V Frisk, R M Knight
1University of Manitoba, Canada. jakobson@ms.umanitoba.ca
Insights
Neonatal brain damage in extremely-low-birthweight (ELBW) children impacts visuomotor skills. However, ELBW children without brain injury performed similarly to controls, suggesting brain injury is key to predicting development.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Pediatric Neurology
Background:
- Extremely-low-birthweight (ELBW) infants face risks for neurodevelopmental challenges.
- Periventricular brain damage is a known complication in ELBW infants.
- Understanding the impact on visuomotor skills is crucial for early intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between neonatal periventricular brain damage and visuomotor performance in ELBW children.
- To compare visuomotor abilities of ELBW children with and without periventricular brain damage to full-term controls.
- To assess visual spatial abilities independent of motor control in these groups.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of 78 ELBW children and 23 full-term controls, all aged six, participated.
- Children completed two motor-free visual spatial ability tests.
- Three tests assessed visuomotor control abilities.
Main Results:
- ELBW children with periventricular brain damage showed significantly poorer performance on visuomotor control tests compared to controls.
- No significant differences in motor-free visual spatial ability were observed between groups.
- ELBW children without periventricular brain damage performed comparably to controls across all tested domains.
Conclusions:
- Periventricular brain injury in ELBW children is a significant predictor of impaired visuomotor development.
- Visuomotor deficits, not general visual spatial abilities, are linked to brain injury in this population.
- Severity of brain injury is a critical factor in determining long-term visuomotor outcomes for ELBW children.
Objective:
To examine the relationship between neonatal, periventricular brain damage and visuomotor performance in extremely-low-birthweight (ELBW) children of normal intelligence whose birthweights were appropriate for gestational age (AGA).
Methods:
Seventy-eight ELBW and 23 control children, all six years of age, completed two "motor-free" tests of visual spatial ability and three tests requiring visuomotor control.
Results:
Full-term control children outperformed ELBW children with periventricular brain damage on all three tests requiring visuomotor guidance. No group differences were found on two "motor-free" tests of visual spatial ability. ELBW children without periventricular brain damage performed in a manner indistinguishable from controls on all tests included in this study.
Conclusions:
The findings indicate that the presence and severity of periventricular brain injury are important factors to consider in predicting visuomotor development in ELBW children.
