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Resting-State Network Complexity and Magnitude Are Reduced in Prematurely Born Infants
Christopher D Smyser1,2, Abraham Z Snyder1,3, Joshua S Shimony3
1Department of Neurology.
Insights
Very preterm birth impacts brain development, showing reduced functional connectivity complexity in neonates. Quantitative resting-state fMRI analysis reveals subtle but significant differences in brain networks of premature infants.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Premature birth is a leading cause of infant disability.
- Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) studies in older children show altered brain connectivity.
- Neonatal rs-fMRI data on prematurity effects are limited, especially in infants without apparent structural brain injury.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate functional brain connectivity differences in neonates using rs-fMRI.
- To compare brain network complexity between term-born and very preterm infants in the neonatal period.
- To identify sensitive quantitative methods for detecting the effects of preterm birth on brain development.
Main Methods:
- Studied 25 term-born infants and 25 very preterm infants (23-29 weeks gestation) within the first week of life.
- Acquired rs-fMRI data and analyzed functional connectivity using correlation and covariance matrices from 31 regions of interest across 7 networks.
- Employed quantitative analysis of covariance matrices and maximum likelihood dimensionality estimation.
Main Results:
- Conventional rs-fMRI network mapping showed minimal group differences.
- Quantitative analyses of correlation and covariance matrices revealed significant group differences in functional connectivity.
- Preterm infants exhibited reduced complexity in rs-fMRI covariance structure (dimensionality estimate of 3 vs. 5 in term infants).
Conclusions:
- Quantitative analysis of rs-fMRI data provides a more sensitive approach to detect brain alterations in preterm infants.
- Preterm birth is associated with reduced complexity of functional brain network organization even in the neonatal period.
- Findings suggest potential neurodevelopmental alterations in preterm infants detectable via advanced rs-fMRI analysis.
Abstract:
Premature birth is associated with high rates of motor and cognitive disability. Investigations have described resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) correlates of prematurity in older children, but comparable data in the neonatal period remain scarce. We studied 25 term-born control infants within the first week of life and 25 very preterm infants (born at gestational ages ranging from 23 to 29 weeks) without evident structural injury at term equivalent postmenstrual age. Conventional resting-state network (RSN) mapping revealed only modest differences between the term and prematurely born infants, in accordance with previous work. However, clear group differences were observed in quantitative analyses based on correlation and covariance matrices representing the functional MRI time series extracted from 31 regions of interest in 7 RSNs. In addition, the maximum likelihood dimensionality estimates of the group-averaged covariance matrices in the term and preterm infants were 5 and 3, respectively, indicating that prematurity leads to a reduction in the complexity of rs-fMRI covariance structure. These findings highlight the importance of quantitative analyses of rs-fMRI data and suggest a more sensitive method for delineating the effects of preterm birth in infants without evident structural injury.
