Abnormal alterations in neurodevelopment in preterm children with very low birth weight during the adolescence

Preterm infants with very low birth weight are at high risk for long-term neurocognitive deficits. However, whether these neurocognitive deficits are improved or worsened in adolescence remains unclear.

We took advantage of the large sample from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development dataset to investigate alterations in brain structure, behavior, including cognitive function and mental health symptoms, and in puberty among preterm children with very low/normal birth weight (Pre_VLBW/Pre_NBW) and full-term children with normal birth weight (Con_NBW) from baseline to 2-year follow-up.

Pre_VLBW children relative to the other two groups had higher cortical thickness, lower cortical area and cortical/subcortical volumes in large portions of frontal cortex, temporal and occipital gyrus, insula, thalamus, and cerebellum; and attenuated fiber tract volumes in the fornix and foreceps major at baseline. Pre_VLBW children for their baseline measures also had lower cognitive function, higher pubertal levels and psychopathological risk. Furthermore, there were significant interaction effects on increased adrenarche score and cortical and subcortical volumes in medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) and thalamus from baseline to 2-year follow-up. Pre_VLBW individuals showed higher adrenarche scores and lower volumes in the mOFC and thalamus than the other two groups at 2-year follow-up, but not at baseline. These brain structural changes showed associations with pubertal development levels, psychopathological risk and cognitive deficits.

These findings support a view that preterm children with VLBW showed distinctive developmental alterations during adolescence, which potentially lead to long-lasting deviations in various brain regions and might be associated with behavioral problems and neurocognitive deficits.