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Updated: Aug 11, 2026
Scanning Dos and Don'ts: Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Awake Children Aged 3 to 5 Years to Assess Brain Structure and Function
Published on: March 10, 2026
Memory in early adolescents born prematurely: a functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation
W John Curtis1, Jiancheng Zhuang, Elise L Townsend
1Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester, NY 14608, USA. wjcurtis@psych.rochester.edu
Insights
Preterm children showed different caudate nucleus activation patterns during memory tasks compared to full-term children, suggesting unique neurodevelopmental pathways. Hippocampal activation remained similar between groups.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Cognitive Neuroscience
Background:
- Children born preterm may experience altered brain development.
- The hippocampus and caudate nucleus are crucial for memory functions.
- Understanding neurodevelopmental differences in preterm children is essential.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare hippocampal and caudate nucleus functional activation between preterm and full-term children during memory tasks.
- To investigate the neuroanatomical basis of potential memory differences in preterm individuals.
- To explore the role of the caudate nucleus in memory processing for preterm children.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activity.
- Early adolescent children born preterm (NICU sample) and age-matched controls were studied.
- Participants completed memory tasks (DMS, DNMS, spatial memory span) and non-memory control tasks.
Main Results:
- No significant differences in hippocampal activation were found between groups during DMS and DNMS tasks.
- Preterm children showed greater right caudate activation during encoding and less during testing in some tasks.
- Reduced left caudate activation was observed in preterm children during specific phases of memory and perceptuomotor tasks.
Conclusions:
- Findings suggest distinct patterns of caudate nucleus engagement in preterm children during memory-related tasks.
- The study highlights potential differences in the functional neuroanatomy of memory in preterm individuals.
- Results contribute to understanding brain plasticity and maturation in early development.
Abstract:
This study employed functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine the functional neuroanatomy of the hippocampus and head of the caudate nucleus during 2 different types of memory tasks in a sample of 9 early adolescent children who were born preterm (neonatal intensive care unit [NICU] sample) and a group of 9 age-matched control children who were born at term. The investigation employed delayed match to sample (DMS), delayed nonmatch to sample (DNMS), and spatial memory span tasks, as well as 2 analogous perceptuomotor tasks that placed no demands on memory. The general question examined was whether preterm children show different levels of hippocampal and caudate activation during these tasks when compared to children born at term. The findings indicated that the 2 groups did not differ in functional activation of the hippocampus during the DMS and DNMS tasks. During the encoding phase of the spatial memory span task, the DMS perceptuomotor task, and the spatial memory span perceptuomotor task, the NICU sample showed greater activation change in the right caudate nucleus, and less right caudate activation change during the test phase. During the spatial span perceptuomotor task, the preterm group showed reduced activation change in the left caudate nucleus during both the encoding and test phase. Also, during the DMS perceptuomotor task, the NICU group showed increased activation change in the left caudate nucleus during encoding and decreased activation change at test. The implications of these findings for understanding the functional neuroanatomy of memory deficits are discussed, as is the potential for distinguishing the effects of neural plasticity from those of typical brain maturational processes.
