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Updated: Oct 8, 2025
Preterm EEG: A Multimodal Neurophysiological Protocol
Published on: February 18, 2012
Hippocampal asymmetry of regional development and structural covariance in preterm neonates
Xinting Ge1,2,3, Yuanjie Zheng1, Yuchuan Qiao2
1School of Information Science and Engineering, Shandong Normal University, 250014 Jinan, China.
Insights
Premature birth impacts infant brain development, particularly the right hippocampus volume and left hippocampal thickness changes. This early extrauterine exposure leads to significant, asymmetric hippocampal development alterations.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
- Neonatal Medicine
Background:
- Premature birth is linked to neurodevelopmental issues in infants.
- Hippocampal function is vital for learning and memory.
- The effects of preterm birth on hippocampal development and its asymmetry are not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare hippocampal hemisphere volumetric growth and shape development in preterm versus full-term neonates.
- To investigate structural covariance between hippocampal regions and cortical thickness.
- To determine the extent of asymmetric hippocampal impairment due to preterm birth.
Main Methods:
- Volumetric analysis of hippocampal hemispheres.
- Shape analysis of hippocampal development.
- Structural covariance analysis between hippocampus and cerebral cortex.
- Comparison between preterm and full-term neonate groups.
Main Results:
- Preterm infants showed reduced right hippocampal volume.
- Hippocampal head thickness was lower in both hemispheres for preterm infants.
- Preterm neonates displayed accelerated age-related changes in left hippocampal thickness.
- Structural covariance between the left hippocampus and limbic lobe was impaired in preterm infants.
Conclusions:
- Third-trimester hippocampal development is altered by early extrauterine exposure.
- Preterm birth leads to asymmetric impairments in hippocampal development.
- Findings highlight the vulnerability of the developing hippocampus to premature birth.
Abstract:
Premature birth is associated with a high prevalence of neurodevelopmental impairments in surviving infants. The hippocampus is known to be critical for learning and memory, yet the putative effects of hippocampal dysfunction remain poorly understood in preterm neonates. In particular, while asymmetry of the hippocampus has been well noted both structurally and functionally, how preterm birth impairs hippocampal development and to what extent the hippocampus is asymmetrically impaired by preterm birth have not been well delineated. In this study, we compared volumetric growth and shape development in the hippocampal hemispheres and structural covariance (SC) between hippocampal vertices and cortical thickness in cerebral cortex regions between two groups. We found that premature infants had smaller volumes of the right hippocampi only. Lower thickness was observed in the hippocampal head in both hemispheres for preterm neonates compared with full-term peers, though preterm neonates exhibited an accelerated age-related change of hippocampal thickness in the left hippocampi. The SC between the left hippocampi and the limbic lobe of the premature infants was severely impaired compared with the term-born neonates. These findings suggested that the development of the hippocampus during the third trimester may be altered following early extrauterine exposure with a high degree of asymmetry.
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