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Updated: Dec 18, 2025
Preterm EEG: A Multimodal Neurophysiological Protocol
Published on: February 18, 2012
Functional brain connectivity in ex utero premature infants compared to in utero fetuses
Josepheen De Asis-Cruz1, Kushal Kapse1, Sudeepta K Basu2
1Diagnostic Imaging and Radiology, Children's National, Washington, DC, USA.
Insights
Very premature infants show altered brain connectivity compared to fetuses, with stronger connections in sensory and stress areas. This suggests the extra-uterine environment impacts neural network development even without structural brain injury.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Pediatric Neurology
Background:
- Premature infants exhibit brain structural changes before term age.
- Functional brain development differences between premature infants and fetuses remain underexplored.
- Understanding these functional differences is crucial for early intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate and compare brain functional connectivity between very premature infants and healthy fetuses.
- To identify specific neural networks affected by the extra-uterine environment in premature infants.
Main Methods:
- Resting state functional MRI (fMRI) was employed in 25 very premature infants (gestational age <32 weeks) and 25 healthy fetuses.
- Seed-based correlation analysis and network-based statistics were used with 23 regions of interest (ROIs) per hemisphere.
- Functional connectivity strength was quantified using Pearson correlation of BOLD signals.
Main Results:
- Both groups displayed a medial to lateral gradient in homotopic ROI connectivity.
- The cingulate cortex, medial temporal lobe, and basal ganglia showed the strongest connections.
- Premature infants exhibited stronger connectivity in superior temporal, hippocampal, and occipital areas compared to fetuses.
Conclusions:
- Extra-uterine environment exposure alters neural network development in premature infants.
- Enhanced connectivity in sensory input and stress-related areas suggests adaptation to the external environment.
- These functional alterations occur despite the absence of apparent structural brain injury.
Abstract:
Brain structural changes in premature infants appear before term age. Functional differences between premature infants and healthy fetuses during this period have yet to be explored. Here, we examined brain connectivity using resting state functional MRI in 25 very premature infants (VPT; gestational age at birth <32 weeks) and 25 healthy fetuses with structurally normal brain MRIs. Resting state data were evaluated using seed-based correlation analysis and network-based statistics using 23 regions of interest (ROIs) per hemisphere. Functional connectivity strength, the Pearson correlation between blood oxygenation level dependent signals over time across all ROIs, was compared between groups. In both cohorts, connectivity between homotopic ROIs showed a decreasing medial to lateral gradient. The cingulate cortex, medial temporal lobe and the basal ganglia shared the strongest connections. In premature infants, connections involving superior temporal, hippocampal, and occipital areas, among others, were stronger compared to fetuses. Premature infants showed stronger connectivity in sensory input and stress-related areas suggesting that extra-uterine environment exposure alters the development of select neural networks in the absence of structural brain injury.
