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Updated: Jun 13, 2025

Preterm EEG: A Multimodal Neurophysiological Protocol
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Long-term brain structural and cognitive outcomes in a low-risk preterm-born sample

L Fernández de Gamarra-Oca1, Natalia Ojeda2, J M Ontañón3

  • 1Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Deusto, Avda de las Universidades 24, 48007, Bilbao, Bizkaia, Spain. Lexuri.fernandez@deusto.es.

Scientific Reports
|September 10, 2024
PubMed

Insights

Low-risk preterm birth is linked to cognitive and brain differences in adulthood. Young adults born preterm showed lower scores in language and social cognition, with altered brain structure and white matter.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Radiology

Background:

  • Prematurity is associated with neurodevelopmental alterations.
  • Previous research has focused on severe preterm birth or major brain injuries.
  • The long-term cognitive and structural brain effects of low-risk preterm birth remain less understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate cognitive function and brain structure in young adults born following low-risk preterm birth (30-36 weeks' gestational age) without major brain injury.
  • To compare neurodevelopmental outcomes between low-risk preterm and full-term individuals during adolescence and young adulthood.

Main Methods:

  • Neuropsychological assessment of 250 participants (132 low-risk preterm, 118 full-term), aged 16-38 years.
  • Structural (T1-weighted) and diffusion-weighted MRI analysis of 64 young adults (33 low-risk preterm, 31 full-term), aged 20-32 years.
  • Analysis included cognitive tests (fluency, theory of mind) and brain imaging metrics (thalamus volume, cortical thickness, white matter integrity - AD, MD, NDI, ODI).

Main Results:

  • Low-risk preterm individuals scored lower on phonetic and semantic fluency, and theory of mind tasks.
  • MRI revealed reduced thalamus volume and thicker cortex in the inferior temporal gyrus in the preterm group.
  • Preterm individuals showed altered white matter microstructure, with higher radial diffusivity (RD) and mean diffusivity (MD), and lower normalized diffusion imaging (NDI) and orientation dispersion index (ODI).

Conclusions:

  • Low-risk preterm birth is associated with subtle but significant deficits in specific cognitive domains (language, social cognition) persisting into adulthood.
  • Neurodevelopmental differences in brain structure (thalamus, inferior temporal gyrus) and white matter microstructure are present in young adults following low-risk preterm birth.
  • These findings highlight the lasting impact of preterm birth on brain development and cognitive function, even in the absence of major injury.

Keywords:
Adolescence and young adulthoodBrain macro and microstructureCognitive functioningCurrent socioeconomic statusLow-risk preterm birth

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