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Parenting Influences on Frontal Lobe Gray Matter and Preterm Toddlers' Problem-Solving Skills

Josselyn S Muñoz1, Megan E Giles2, Kelly A Vaughn2

  • 1Department of Cognitive Sciences, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.

Children (Basel, Switzerland)
|February 24, 2024
PubMed

Insights

Parental support significantly impacts brain development in extremely preterm toddlers, potentially normalizing neurodevelopment. Early interventions focusing on parent support may offer lasting benefits for high-risk infants.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Pediatrics

Background:

  • Children born preterm often experience self-regulation difficulties in toddlerhood.
  • Preterm birth can affect neurodevelopment, including frontal lobe gray matter volume (GMV).
  • Emotion regulation (ER) is crucial for early childhood development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between prematurity, parental support, frontal lobe GMV, and ER in toddlers.
  • To understand how these factors interact during a problem-solving task.
  • To identify potential early intervention targets for preterm infants.

Main Methods:

  • Studied 57 preterm toddlers (15-30 months corrected age) across three gestational groups (EPT, VPT, LPT).
  • Collected MRI data during sleep to assess frontal lobe GMV.
  • Observed parent-child interactions during a validated, increasingly complex problem-solving task.

Main Results:

  • Toddler compliance increased with task difficulty, varying by gestational group.
  • Parental support was linked to larger right frontal lobe GMV in extremely preterm (EPT) toddlers.
  • Parental support showed the most significant impact on brain development for high-risk infants (≤27 weeks gestation).

Conclusions:

  • Parental support is a critical factor in the neurodevelopment of preterm infants, especially those born extremely preterm.
  • Early, targeted parent interventions may help normalize neurodevelopmental trajectories in preterm children.
  • Findings highlight the potential for lasting positive impacts of early supportive care on brain development.

Keywords:
cognitionemotion regulationfrontal lobegray matter volumeneurodevelopmentneuroimagingparentingprematurity

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