Disrupted resting-sate brain network dynamics in children born extremely preterm

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Neuroscience
• Brain Imaging

Background:

• The developing brain must adapt to insults following extremely preterm (EPT) birth (<27 weeks gestational age).
• Maturation processes can be disrupted, potentially leading to neurodevelopmental deficits.
• Resting-state functional connectivity provides insights into brain organization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate functional brain organization in children born EPT compared to full-term controls at 10 years of age.
• To assess intrinsic ignition and node-metastability in core brain networks.
• To explore the relationship between brain function and cognitive performance.

Main Methods:

• Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) was used.
• 33 EPT children and 26 full-term controls were scanned at 10 years of age.
• Intrinsic ignition and node-metastability were computed for the default-mode network (DMN), dorsal attention network (DAN), salience, limbic, visual, and somatosensory networks.

Main Results:

• EPT children exhibited reduced intrinsic ignition in the DMN and DAN compared to controls.
• Reduced node-metastability was observed in the DMN, DAN, and salience networks in the EPT group.
• While correlations between brain function and cognition were found in both groups, they only persisted in the term group after adjustment.

Conclusions:

• Preterm birth significantly alters resting-state functional brain organization in core networks (DMN, salience, DAN).
• These alterations in intrinsic ignition and node-metastability may underlie neurodevelopmental challenges.
• Identifying vulnerable networks post-EPT birth can inform targeted interventions to restore brain function.