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Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
Imprints of extreme prematurity on functional brain networks in school-aged children and adolescents
Maksym Tokariev1, Virve Vuontela1, Anton Tokariev2
1Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, AMI Centre, Aalto University School of Science, P.O. Box 13000, Espoo FI-00076, Finland; Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Insights
Extremely preterm birth alters brain network connectivity, impacting cognitive performance in school-aged children. Preterm individuals show different functional connectivity adjustments compared to controls, suggesting compromised brain development.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
Background:
- Cognitive functions rely on dynamic interactions within brain networks.
- Preterm birth, especially extreme prematurity, increases the risk of neurodevelopmental impairments.
- Understanding brain network organization in extremely preterm individuals is crucial for addressing cognitive deficits.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate functional brain network connectivity differences between extremely preterm and term-born school-aged children and adolescents.
- To explore the relationship between functional connectivity, cognitive demands, and neurocognitive outcomes.
- To examine developmental trajectories of brain networks in relation to preterm birth.
Main Methods:
- Network-based statistics were used to analyze functional connectivity during resting-state and a visuospatial working memory n-back task.
- A unique cohort of extremely preterm-born (n=24) and term-born (n=22) school-aged children and adolescents was studied.
- Group differences in functional connectivity strength and age-related changes were assessed.
Main Results:
- Significant differences in functional connectivity strength were observed between preterm and control groups within and between major brain networks (DAN, DMN, VN, VAN, FPN).
- Preterm individuals exhibited altered modulation of functional connectivity between resting and task states.
- In controls, stronger within-network connectivity correlated with better task performance, while in preterm individuals, stronger between-network connectivity correlated with poorer performance.
Conclusions:
- The ability to adjust functional connectivity to cognitive demands is vital for successful cognitive performance in school-aged children.
- Extreme preterm birth appears to compromise the dynamic regulation and developmental trajectories of brain networks.
- These findings highlight the long-term impact of preterm birth on brain network maturation and cognitive function.
Abstract:
Cognitive functions emerge from dynamic functional interplay of cortical and subcortical areas that form networks. Preterm birth poses a risk for the formation and functionality of brain networks which may lead to severe brain dysfunctions. Infants born extremely preterm have the highest risk of developing neurocognitive impairments. However, it is still poorly understood how functional brain networks are organized and linked with the cognitive impairments in extremely prematurely born children and adolescents. We applied network-based statistics to study functional network connectivity during two brain-states, resting-state (Rest) and visuospatial working memory n-back tasks (Task), in a unique cohort of extremely preterm-born school-aged children and adolescents (n = 24, mean age 10.3 y, range 7.4-16.4 y) with normal general cognitive abilities and in their term-born peers (n = 22, mean age 9.5 y, range 7.4-13.7 y). We found significant group differences in functional connectivity strength in networks that support complex cognitive performance. The preterm group, compared with controls, modulated functional connectivity between Rest and Task differently within the dorsal attention (DAN, p = 0.016), default mode (DMN, p = 0.026) and visual (VN, p = 0.022) networks, and between DMN - DAN (p = 0.024), DMN - ventral attention network (VAN) (p = 0.035), and DMN - frontoparietal network (FPN) (p = 0.015). The groups also showed opposite age-related changes in connectivity strength within the DAN (Task, p = 0.005; Rest, p = 0.012), DMN (Task, p = 0.015) and FPN (Task, p = 0.002), and between the DAN - VAN (p = 0.047) and DAN - FPN (p = 0.009) during Rest, and FPN - VAN (p =0.028), DAN - FPN (p = 0.006), DMN - DAN (p = 0.042), DMN - VAN (p = 0.023), and DMN - FPN (p = 0.007) during Task. In controls, stronger within-network connectivity associated with better n-back task performance, whereas in the preterm group, stronger between-network connectivity associated with poorer performance. These results suggest that adjustment of functional connectivity to the cognitive demands supports successful performance in school-aged children and adolescents and that extremely preterm birth compromises the dynamics and developmental trajectories of brain networks.
