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Association between brain activation (fMRI), cognition and school performance in extremely preterm and term born

Silja Torvik Griffiths1, Stein Magnus Aukland, Trond Markestad

  • 1Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Norway.

Scandinavian Journal of Psychology
|July 22, 2014
PubMed

Insights

Extremely preterm children show different brain activation patterns compared to term-born peers during cognitive tasks. These brain differences, however, do not fully explain their lower school performance, suggesting other factors are involved.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Pediatrics

Background:

  • Extremely preterm birth is associated with potential long-term neurodevelopmental challenges.
  • Understanding the neural underpinnings of cognitive differences in preterm children is crucial for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the relationship between brain activity (via functional magnetic resonance imaging), cognitive abilities, and academic achievement in extremely preterm children compared to term-born controls.
  • To identify specific brain activation patterns associated with cognitive performance in these groups.

Main Methods:

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to scan 28 extremely preterm and 28 term-born children.
  • Participants completed a working memory and selective attention task during scanning.
  • School performance data were obtained from national standardized tests.

Main Results:

  • Brain activation patterns differed between preterm and term-born children.
  • Distinct brain areas showed differences in activation between high and low cognitive performers.
  • Observed brain activation differences did not correlate with differences in school performance between the groups.

Conclusions:

  • Cognitive skill deficits alone do not fully account for the lower academic performance observed in some extremely preterm children.
  • Brain activation patterns associated with cognitive function vary based on birth status and cognitive ability level.
  • Further research is needed to elucidate the complex factors contributing to school performance in extremely preterm populations.

Keywords:
Extremely pretermcognitionextremely low birth weightfunctional MRIschool performance

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