Brain Alterations In Babies Born Preterm May Begin Weeks Before Birth

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A recent study by the researchers at Yale School of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Wayne State University suggests that premature babies may display alterations in the circuitry of their developing brains even before they are born.

About 10-11 percent of American babies are born prematurely, the researchers say. The study suggest that factors contributing to early birth might also have a substantial effect on the brain's development in the womb, leading to significant neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism, hyperactivity disorder, and cerebral palsy.

These developmental disorders are more common in children born preterm. Previous studies suggest that they are three times more likely to develop autism, attention deficit or hyperactivity and emotional disorders, three to four times more likely to experience school failure and five times more likely to manifest neurological abnormalities.

The researchers at Yale School of Medicine, Laura Ment, Dustin Scheinost, and Todd Constable collaborated during the study with principal investigator, Moriah Thomason of Wayne state university, and Roberto Romero, program director for obstetrics and maternal-fetal medicine of NICHD/NIH, according to Science Daily.

The researchers used novel fetal resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure brain function in 32 human fetuses in utero, and found that systems level neural functional connectivity was reduced in 14 fetuses that would subsequently be born preterm.

The researchers led by Scheinost, assistant professor in the Magnetic Resonance Research Center at Yale School of Medicine, studied the patients at Wayne State using novel functional MRI strategies to detect differences in neural networks between study groups.

They discovered that neural connectivity was diminished in a left hemisphere pre-language region and the level at which the connectivity extended to right hemisphere homologs was positively related to the time elapsed between functional MRI assessment and delivery.

The study reports reduced coherence of activity measured across brain circuits, which shows weaker connectivity in individuals born preterm from infancy through adulthood.

The findings provide the very first evidence that altered functional connectivity in the brain of children born preterm is identifiable before birth. The researchers suggest that neurodevelopmental impairment follow preterm birth may result from alterations in neural connectivity.

The study's co-author, professor Ment said, these findings suggest that some prematurely born babies show significant changes in neural systems before birth. However, future study into causes and outcomes of preterm birth is necessary.

Future studies will focus more on potential causes of preterm birth and prematurity, and how these conditions influence brain development in utero. The researchers would also monitor babies born to the study participants so as to establish long term outcomes, according to Yale News.

They published their findings in the journal Scientific Reports.