Executive Function in Relation to White Matter in Preterm and Full Term Children

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Radiology

Background:

• Executive function (EF) governs goal-directed behavior and is often impaired in preterm-born children.
• White matter injury is common in preterm infants, potentially impacting cognitive development.
• Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) quantifies white matter microstructure.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between executive function (EF) scores and white matter fractional anisotropy (FA) in preterm and term-born children.
• To explore potential shared neurobiological underpinnings of EF in these groups.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study comparing preterm (n=25) and term-born (n=20) children aged 9-16.
• White matter FA analyzed using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS).
• EF assessed via working memory, spatial memory, and Stockings of Cambridge tasks.

Main Results:

• No significant group differences in task performance.
• Lower FA correlated with unfavorable working memory strategy scores in both preterm and term groups.
• Other EF measures showed no consistent association with whole-skeleton FA.

Conclusions:

• Spatial working memory strategy scores are associated with white matter FA in both preterm and term children, indicating common neurobiology.
• These associations involve frontal-parietal connections and major white matter tracts.
• Variability in task execution may explain the lack of association for other EF measures.