Attention and internalizing behaviors in relation to white matter in children born preterm

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a magnetic resonance imaging technique that provides quantitative characterization of white matter tracts in the brain. This study used DTI to examine the degree of association between parent-rated scores of attention, internalizing behaviors including anxiety symptoms, and externalizing behaviors and white matter fractional anisotropy (FA) in children born preterm.

Participants were aged 9 to 16 years; 25 were born at <36 weeks of gestation (mean = 28.6 wk, birth weight = 1191 g) and 20 were full term. The authors analyzed the results using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics, a technique that generates a skeleton representing the core of white matter tracts throughout the brain. The authors examined the correlations between behavior scores and FA of (1) the whole skeleton and (2) the specific regions of interest.

In preterm children, scores on attention and internalizing behavior scales were each associated with whole skeleton FA and several regions of interest; unfavorable scores were consistently associated with lower FA. Externalizing behaviors were not associated with whole skeleton FA, but significant associations were found within a few regions of interest. The network of significant regions for attention and internalizing symptoms was widely distributed and overlapping. In full-term children, no associations of FA and behavior were significant.

Attention and internalizing behaviors in preterm children were associated with FA in a widely distributed overlapping network of white matter tracts, suggesting common underlying neurobiology. DTI contributes to understanding individual differences in attention and behavior characteristics in children born preterm.