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How to Obtain Reliable Visual Event-related Potentials in Newborns
Published on: October 24, 2019
Early identification of cerebral visual impairments in infants born extremely preterm
Johan J M Pel1, Jeroen Dudink2, Mark Vonk1
1Vestibular and Ocular Motor Research Group, Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Insights
Extremely preterm infants show visual processing delays, particularly with color and motion detection, even without visible brain damage on MRI. These findings suggest subtle neuronal connectivity issues affecting visual function.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Ophthalmology
Background:
- Infants born extremely preterm (<29 weeks' gestation) face risks of visual processing problems due to potential brain damage.
- Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may not detect all visual pathway damage, making functional prediction difficult.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate visual information processing in 1-year-old infants born extremely preterm using an eye-tracking-based visual function test.
- To identify potential visual processing deficits not apparent on standard MRI.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a communication-free eye-tracking visual function test on infants born extremely preterm (n=30) at a corrected age of 1 year.
- Quantified reaction times to fixation (RTF) for specific visual properties.
- Compared results with a control group of typically developing infants.
Main Results:
- Infants born extremely preterm exhibited significantly longer response times in detecting color patterns (red-green) and motion compared to controls.
- No impairments were observed in basic oculomotor functions like saccades, pursuit, and fixations.
Conclusions:
- Delays in visual information processing are identifiable in extremely preterm infants, even without overt MRI-detectable brain damage.
- These processing delays may stem from microstructural deficits in neuronal connectivity within the visual pathways.
Aim:
Children born extremely preterm are at risk of visual processing problems related to brain damage. Damage in visual pathways can remain undetected by conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and functional consequences cannot always be predicted. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of processing visual information in infants born extremely preterm at a corrected age of 1 year using a communication-free visual function test based on eye tracking.
Method:
Infants born extremely preterm (<29wks' gestation) without apparent white and grey matter damage on conventional MRI at 30 weeks' postmenstrual age were included (19 males, 1.01y [0.96-1.24] (median [25th-75th centiles]); 11 females, 0.99y [0.98-1.01]). At the corrected age of 1 year, reaction times to fixation (RTF) of specific visual properties displayed on an eye-tracker monitor were quantified and compared with results from a comparison group (eight males, 1.28y [1.01-1.33]; nine females, 1.10y [0.90-1.20]).
Results:
The infants in the preterm group had longer response times in detecting colour patterns (red-green) and motion compared with infants in the comparison group. No impairments were detected in oculomotor functions (saccades, pursuit, and fixations).
Interpretation:
The data suggest that delays in processing visual information can be identified in children born extremely preterm. The delays might be ascribed to deficits in neuronal connectivity in visual pathways at a microstructural level.
