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Updated: Mar 20, 2026
Preterm EEG: A Multimodal Neurophysiological Protocol
Published on: February 18, 2012
Cortical folding of the preterm brain: a longitudinal analysis of extremely preterm born neonates using spectral
Eliza Orasanu1, Andrew Melbourne1, Manuel Jorge Cardoso1
1Translational Imaging Group Centre for Medical Image Computing (CMIC) University College London London UK.
Insights
Extremely preterm infants show significant brain development, particularly in the prefrontal and temporal lobes. Mapping cortical folding changes offers insights into neurodevelopmental outcomes for these vulnerable infants.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Infants born extremely preterm (<28 weeks gestation) face risks of neurodevelopmental impairments.
- Birth before 28 weeks occurs during a critical period of rapid brain growth, making the infant brain vulnerable to injury.
- Identifying biomarkers for early impairment prediction is crucial for this population.
Purpose of the Study:
- To map longitudinal changes in brain development in extremely preterm infants.
- To identify potential biomarkers for predicting early neurodevelopmental impairment.
- To analyze cortical folding at the white-grey matter boundary between 30 and 40 weeks corrected gestational age.
Main Methods:
- Utilized surface-based spectral matching techniques for intrasubject longitudinal surface correspondence.
- Analyzed the white-grey matter boundary at 30 and 40 weeks equivalent gestational age.
- Employed curvature measures and Hotelling T(2) statistics to assess significant changes in cortical folding.
Main Results:
- Identified significant cortical folding changes in the white-grey matter boundary during the preterm period.
- The prefrontal and temporal lobes, especially in the left hemisphere, showed the most development.
- Established surface correspondence between different time points in extremely preterm infants.
Conclusions:
- Longitudinal measurements of cortical folding changes can provide insights into tissue mechanical properties.
- These findings may aid in inferring developmental changes in vulnerable preterm infants.
- Surface correspondence techniques offer a promising approach for monitoring brain development in extremely preterm infants.
Introduction:
Infants born extremely preterm (<28 weeks of gestation) are at risk of significant neurodevelopmental sequelae. In these infants birth coincides with a period of rapid brain growth and development, when the brain is also vulnerable to a range of insults. Mapping these changes is crucial for identifying potential biomarkers to predict early impairment.
Methods:
In this study we use surface-based spectral matching techniques to find an intrasubject longitudinal surface correspondence between the white-grey matter boundary at 30 and 40 weeks equivalent gestational age in nine extremely preterm born infants.
Results:
Using the resulting surface correspondence, we identified regions that undergo more cortical folding of the white-grey matter boundary during the preterm period by looking at changes in well-known curvature measures. We performed Hotelling T(2) statistics to evaluate the significance of our findings.
Discussion:
The prefrontal and temporal lobes exhibit most development during the preterm period, especially in the left hemisphere. Such correspondences are a promising result as longitudinal measurements of change in cortical folding could provide insightful information about the mechanical properties of the underlying tissue and may be useful in inferring changes during growth and development in this vulnerable period.
