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Global and regional differences in brain anatomy of young children born small for gestational age
Henrica M A De Bie1, Kim J Oostrom, Maria Boersma
1Department of Pediatrics, Vrije Universiteit Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. h.debie@vumc.nl
Insights
Children born small for gestational age (SGA) show significant brain differences, even with physical catch-up growth. Their brain development does not fully recover, indicating lasting neurological effects from the intrauterine environment.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Pediatrics
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- Children born small for gestational age (SGA) often experience impaired intrauterine development affecting both body and brain.
- While physical growth may partially recover in early childhood, cognitive impairments and reduced intelligence are frequently observed in SGA individuals.
- The long-term impact of intrauterine adversity on brain structure and organization in SGA children requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate brain anatomical differences in 4- to 7-year-old children born SGA, comparing those with and without catch-up growth to healthy controls.
- To determine if bodily catch-up growth in SGA children correlates with normalized brain development.
- To identify specific regions and global brain structures affected by being born SGA.
Main Methods:
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was employed to assess brain anatomy.
- Brain structure was analyzed in three groups: SGA children with catch-up growth, SGA children without catch-up growth, and healthy children born appropriate for gestational age.
- Global and regional brain volumes, cortical surface area, and cortical thickness were compared across groups.
Main Results:
- Children born SGA exhibited significant differences in brain organization compared to healthy controls, encompassing both global and regional anatomical variations.
- SGA children displayed reduced volumes of cerebral and cerebellar grey and white matter, smaller subcortical structures, and diminished cortical surface area.
- Regional differences in prefrontal cortical thickness suggested altered cerebral cortex development in SGA children.
- SGA children with bodily catch-up growth presented intermediate brain characteristics between those without catch-up growth and healthy controls.
Conclusions:
- Bodily catch-up growth in children born SGA does not equate to complete brain catch-up growth.
- Adverse intrauterine environments impact brain development in SGA children, leading to persistent structural and organizational differences.
- Further research is needed to understand the long-term cognitive and neurological consequences of these brain alterations in SGA individuals.
Abstract:
In children who are born small for gestational age (SGA), an adverse intrauterine environment has led to underdevelopment of both the body and the brain. The delay in body growth is (partially) restored during the first two years in a majority of these children. In addition to a negative influence on these physical parameters, decreased levels of intelligence and cognitive impairments have been described in children born SGA. In this study, we used magnetic resonance imaging to examine brain anatomy in 4- to 7-year-old SGA children with and without complete bodily catch-up growth and compared them to healthy children born appropriate for gestational age. Our findings demonstrate that these children strongly differ on brain organisation when compared with healthy controls relating to both global and regional anatomical differences. Children born SGA displayed reduced cerebral and cerebellar grey and white matter volumes, smaller volumes of subcortical structures and reduced cortical surface area. Regional differences in prefrontal cortical thickness suggest a different development of the cerebral cortex. SGA children with bodily catch-up growth constitute an intermediate between those children without catch-up growth and healthy controls. Therefore, bodily catch-up growth in children born SGA does not implicate full catch-up growth of the brain.
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