Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 20, 2026
Use of an Eight-arm Radial Water Maze to Assess Working and Reference Memory Following Neonatal Brain Injury
Published on: December 4, 2013
Functional neuroanatomy of executive function after neonatal brain injury in adults who were born very preterm
Anastasia K Kalpakidou1, Matthew P G Allin1, Muriel Walshe1
1Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King's Health Partners, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
Insights
Very preterm birth (VPT) can affect executive functions. Neonatal brain injury severity influences working memory, showing altered frontal cortex engagement in VPT individuals with more severe injury.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Individuals born very preterm (VPT; <33 gestational weeks) face executive function deficits.
- Neonatal brain injury type and severity may differentially impact executive functioning by altering neuroanatomical substrates.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the hemodynamic response during executive-type processing in VPT-born young adults.
- Examine how varying degrees of neonatal brain injury affect brain activity during verbal fluency and working memory tasks.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to study brain activity.
- VPT individuals with different neonatal brain injury histories (PVH+VD, UPVH, no injury) and controls performed verbal fluency and n-back tasks with varying cognitive loads.
Main Results:
- VPT individuals showed greater activation in frontal, temporal, parietal cortices, caudate nucleus, insula, and thalamus compared to controls during the verbal fluency task.
- During the n-back task, the PVH+VD group exhibited reduced frontal cortex engagement compared to the UPVH group as working memory load increased.
Conclusions:
- The functional neuroanatomy of executive functions is altered in VPT-born individuals.
- Neural activation during working memory tasks is sensitive to the extent of neonatal brain injury in VPT individuals.
Abstract:
Individuals who were born very preterm (VPT; <33 gestational weeks) are at risk of experiencing deficits in tasks involving executive function in childhood and beyond. In addition, the type and severity of neonatal brain injury associated with very preterm birth may exert differential effects on executive functioning by altering its neuroanatomical substrates. Here we addressed this question by investigating with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) the haemodynamic response during executive-type processing using a phonological verbal fluency and a working memory task in VPT-born young adults who had experienced differing degrees of neonatal brain injury. 12 VPT individuals with a history of periventricular haemorrhage and ventricular dilatation (PVH+VD), 17 VPT individuals with a history of uncomplicated periventricular haemorrhage (UPVH), 13 VPT individuals with no history of neonatal brain injury and 17 controls received an MRI scan whilst completing a verbal fluency task with two cognitive loads ('easy' and 'hard' letters). Two groups of VPT individuals (PVH+VD; n = 10, UPVH; n = 8) performed an n-back task with three cognitive loads (1-, 2-, 3-back). Results demonstrated that VPT individuals displayed hyperactivation in frontal, temporal, and parietal cortices and in caudate nucleus, insula and thalamus compared to controls, as demands of the verbal fluency task increased, regardless of type of neonatal brain injury. On the other hand, during the n-back task and as working memory load increased, the PVH+VD group showed less engagement of the frontal cortex than the UPVH group. In conclusion, this study suggests that the functional neuroanatomy of different executive-type processes is altered following VPT birth and that neural activation associated with specific aspects of executive function (i.e., working memory) may be particularly sensitive to the extent of neonatal brain injury.
