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Published on: March 25, 2011
Visual configural processing in adults born at extremely low birth weight
Karen J Mathewson1, Daphne Maurer1, Catherine J Mondloch2
1Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Insights
Adults born at extremely low birth weight (ELBW) show long-term deficits in higher-order visual processing, particularly in discriminating human faces and other objects compared to normal birth weight (NBW) individuals.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Ophthalmology
Background:
- Extremely low birth weight (ELBW; ≤1,000 g) is linked to lasting visual impairments.
- Higher-order visual processing deficits may persist into adulthood for ELBW survivors.
- Longitudinal studies on the cognitive outcomes of ELBW individuals are crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate long-term configural visual processing abilities in the oldest prospectively followed cohort of ELBW survivors.
- To compare the performance of ELBW adults with normal birth weight (NBW) adults on tasks requiring discrimination of facial and object stimuli based on feature spacing.
- To explore the relationship between visual processing deficits, cognitive abilities (IQ), and potential compensatory strategies in ELBW survivors.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of 62 adults born at ELBW (mean age 31.9 years) and 82 NBW adults (mean age 32.5 years) participated.
- Participants completed a delayed match-to-sample task involving human faces, monkey faces, and houses, varying in feature spacing.
- Discrimination accuracy was analyzed, controlling for neurosensory impairment, visual acuity, binocular fusion, IQ, and sex.
Main Results:
- Both groups were more accurate at discriminating human faces than monkey faces.
- ELBW survivors demonstrated significantly poorer discrimination of human faces, monkey faces, and houses compared to NBW controls.
- Face discrimination in ELBW survivors was correlated with performance IQ and specifically the Coding subtest, suggesting a potential feature-matching strategy.
Conclusions:
- ELBW survivors exhibit a general deficit in perceptual processing, extending into adulthood.
- Altered configural processing, particularly for human faces, may be a long-term consequence of extremely low birth weight.
- Further research should explore the neural underpinnings and psychosocial impact of these visual processing differences in ELBW individuals.
Abstract:
Being born at extremely low birth weight (ELBW; ≤1,000 g) is associated with enduring visual impairments. We tested for long-term, higher order visual processing problems in the oldest known prospectively followed cohort of ELBW survivors. Configural processing (spacing among features of an object) was examined in 62 adults born at ELBW (Mage = 31.9 years) and 82 adults born at normal birth weight (NBW; ≥2,500 g: Mage = 32.5 years). Pairs of human faces, monkey faces, or houses were presented in a delayed match-to-sample task, where non-matching stimuli differed only in the spacing of their features. Discrimination accuracy for each stimulus type was compared between birth weight groups, adjusting for neurosensory impairment, visual acuity, binocular fusion ability, IQ, and sex. Both groups were better able to discriminate human faces than monkey faces (p < .001). However, the ELBW group discriminated between human faces (p < .001), between monkey faces (p < .001), and to some degree, between houses (p < .06), more poorly than NBW control participants, suggesting a general deficit in perceptual processing. Human face discrimination was related to performance IQ (PIQ) across groups, but especially among ELBW survivors. Coding (a PIQ subtest) also predicted human face discrimination in ELBW survivors, consistent with previously reported links between visuo-perceptive difficulties and regional slowing of cortical activity in individuals born preterm. Correlations with Coding suggested ELBW survivors may have used a feature-matching approach to processing human faces. Future studies could examine brain-based anatomical and functional evidence for altered face processing, as well as the social and memory consequences of face-processing deficits in ELBW survivors.
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