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Updated: Sep 14, 2025
A Method to Quantify Visual Information Processing in Children Using Eye Tracking
Published on: July 9, 2016
Early Nutrition is Associated With Global Motion Perception and V5 Function in 7-Year-Old Children Born Very Preterm
Linda Nguyen1, Andrew E Silva1, Tanya Poppe2
1School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada.
Insights
Early nutrition may improve dorsal visual stream development in very preterm infants. Children receiving improved parenteral nutrition showed better motion perception and brain responses, suggesting nutrition impacts visual pathway development.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Preterm birth can impair the dorsal visual stream, crucial for motion perception.
- The dorsal stream vulnerability hypothesis posits specific developmental risks for preterm infants.
- Early nutrition is a critical factor in neurodevelopment, but its impact on the dorsal stream in preterm infants is not fully understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of altered early parenteral nutrition on dorsal visual stream development in very preterm children.
- To compare visual processing and neural responses between two groups of very preterm infants based on their neonatal nutrition protocol.
Main Methods:
- Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) responses in visual areas V1 and V5.
- Stimuli included random dot kinematograms (RDKs) to assess motion perception.
- Psychophysical testing measured motion coherence thresholds, a key indicator of global motion perception.
Main Results:
- Children receiving the updated nutrition protocol (NewPro group) showed significantly higher V5 BOLD responses to RDKs compared to the OldPro group.
- The NewPro group also exhibited significantly better (lower) motion coherence thresholds, indicating enhanced global motion perception.
- No significant differences in V1 BOLD responses were observed between the groups, but V5 activity correlated with motion perception performance.
Conclusions:
- Early nutritional interventions, specifically increased protein and reduced fluid intake via parenteral nutrition, may positively influence the development of the dorsal visual stream in very preterm children.
- These findings highlight the potential of optimizing neonatal nutrition to mitigate visual processing deficits associated with preterm birth.
Abstract:
The dorsal stream vulnerability hypothesis suggests that preterm birth may preferentially impair development of the dorsal visual pathway. We explored the effects of early nutrition on dorsal stream development in a well-characterized cohort of 7-year-old children born very preterm. The children had been admitted to a tertiary hospital neonatal intensive care unit either before (OldPro group) or after (NewPro group) a parenteral nutrition protocol change that was intended to increase protein intake and reduce fluid volume intake. We assessed dorsal stream function using the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response in V1 and V5 to coherent and incoherent random dot kinematograms (RDKs), quantified using functional magnetic resonance imaging. V1 and V5 regions of interest could be localized in 24 children (OldPro n = 11, NewPro n = 13). Motion coherence thresholds, a psychophysical measure of global motion perception, were also available for 22 of these children (OldPro n = 9, NewPro n = 13). The NewPro group demonstrated a higher V5 BOLD response to RDK stimuli (OldPro: mean = 0.5%, SD = 0.2%; NewPro: mean = 1.0%, SD = 0.6%) and exhibited lower (better) motion coherence thresholds (OldPro: median = 74.0%, IQR: 59.5%-81.2%; NewPro: median = 36.8%, IQR: 27.5%-44.5%), compared to the OldPro group. The V1 BOLD response did not differ between the groups. There was a significant association between V5 ΔBOLD (coherent minus incoherent stimulus BOLD response) and motion coherence threshold. Together, these findings suggest that early nutrition may influence dorsal stream development in children born very preterm.
