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Association of brain functional connectivity with neurodevelopmental outcomes in healthy full-term newborns
Venkata C Chirumamilla1, Laura Hitchings1, Sarah B Mulkey2
1Prenatal Pediatrics Institute, Children's National Hospital, Washington, DC, United States.
Insights
Functional brain connectivity (FBC) in newborns is linked to later cognitive, language, motor, and socio-emotional development. This early connectivity may guide interventions to optimize neurodevelopment in infants.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Early life brain development is crucial for long-term outcomes.
- Assessing functional brain connectivity (FBC) in newborns can provide insights into neurodevelopmental trajectories.
- High-density electroencephalography (HD-EEG) offers a non-invasive method for measuring brain activity in infants.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between functional brain connectivity (FBC) in healthy term infants and their neurodevelopmental outcomes at two years of age.
- To explore specific frequency bands and brain regions involved in these associations.
- To determine if early FBC patterns can predict later developmental scores.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected HD-EEG data from newborns within 72 hours of birth.
- Neurodevelopmental assessment at two years using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-III (BSID-III).
- Phase synchronization analysis of source signals in delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma bands to calculate FBC; stepwise regression used for association analysis.
Main Results:
- Significant associations were found between FBC and cognitive, language, motor, and socio-emotional scores.
- Frontal region FBC in the theta band correlated with cognitive scores (p < 0.01).
- Language scores were linked to connectivity across all frequency bands, particularly in the left hemisphere (p < 0.01); motor and socio-emotional scores related to FBC in frontal and occipital regions across theta, alpha, and gamma bands (p < 0.01).
Conclusions:
- Functional brain connectivity, indicative of higher-order processing, is present at term age in healthy infants.
- Early FBC patterns show significant associations with neurodevelopmental outcomes at two years.
- These findings suggest FBC could be a valuable biomarker for guiding early interventions to optimize neurodevelopment, even in low-risk newborns.
Objective:
To study the association between neurodevelopmental outcomes and functional brain connectivity (FBC) in healthy term infants.
Methods:
This is a retrospective study of prospectively collected High-density electroencephalography (HD-EEG) from newborns within 72 hours from birth. Developmental assessments were performed at two years of age using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-III (BSID-III) measuring cognitive, language, motor, and socio-emotional scores. The FBC was calculated using phase synchronization analysis of source signals in delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma frequency bands and its association with neurodevelopmental score was assessed with stepwise regression.
Results:
47/163 had both HD-EEG and BSID-III scores. The FBC of frontal region was associated with cognitive score in the theta band (corrected p, regression coefficients range: p < 0.01, 1.66-1.735). Language scores were significantly associated with connectivity in all frequency bands, predominantly in the left hemisphere (p < 0.01, -2.74-2.40). The FBC of frontal and occipital brain regions of both hemispheres was related to motor score and socio-emotional development in theta, alpha, and gamma frequency bands (p < 0.01, -2.16-2.97).
Conclusions:
Functional connectivity of higher-order processing is already present at term age.
Significance:
The FBC might be used to guide interventions for optimizing subsequent neurodevelopment even in low-risk newborns.
