Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 14, 2026

Measuring Statistical Learning Across Modalities and Domains in School-Aged Children Via an Online Platform and Neuroimaging Techniques
Published on: June 30, 2020
The very preterm brain in young adulthood: the neural correlates of verbal paired associate learning
Emma J Lawrence1, Philip K McGuire1, Matthew Allin1
1Department of Psychiatry, Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry and King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
Objective:
To determine whether preterm birth influences functional neuronal development in adulthood.
Study Design:
We evaluated adults born very preterm (VPT; < 33 weeks of gestation) using a verbal paired-associate learning task within a functional magnetic resonance imaging paradigm. Hippocampi and parahippocampal gyri gray matter volumes were also quantified.
Results:
Despite similar task performance compared with control participants, VPT adults showed increased brain activation in the left parahippocampal and precentral gyri during Encoding, and in the precentral gyrus during Recall. Very preterm participants also had decreased gray matter volume in the left and right hippocampi yet increased gray matter in the left parahippocampal gyrus. In VPT participants alone, activation in the left parahippocampal gyrus during Encoding (VPT>control participants) was positively associated with gray matter volume in the left parahippocampal gyrus, with VPT participants with the youngest gestational age (eg, born 28 weeks or less) having both increased gray matter and functional activation in this region. These results may reflect the process of neural reorganization after early brain injury.
Conclusion:
Preterm birth leads to functional neuronal differences in adulthood, which are meditated by both structural variations in task-specific regions, and gestational age.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Associative Learning
Classical conditioning, also known...
Higher Mental Functions of Brain: Learning and Memory
Higher Mental Functions of the Brain: Language
Language formation and comprehension take place in the dominant hemisphere. The dominant hemisphere is responsible for understanding the meaning of spoken, written, or sign language, as well as the ability to communicate. For most people, the left hemisphere is the dominant one. The right hemisphere, then, gives tone and emotional context to the...
Cognitive Development During Adolescence
Cognitive Development During Adulthood
Brain Imaging
These technologies include computerized axial tomography (CAT or CT scans), positron-emission tomography (PET scans), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS).

