- Microstructure of the Default Mode Network in Preterm Infants
A cohort of 44 preterm infants underwent T1WI, resting-state fMRI, and DTI at 3T, including 21 infants with brain injuries and 23 infants with normal-appearing structural imaging as controls. Neurodevelopment was evaluated with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development at 12 months' adjusted age. Results showed decreased fractional anisotropy and elevated radial diffusivity values of the cingula in the preterm infants with brain injuries compared with controls. The Bayley Scales of Infant Development cognitive scores were significantly associated with cingulate fractional anisotropy. The authors suggest that the microstructural properties of interconnecting axonal pathways within the default mode network are of critical importance in the early neurocognitive development of infants.
- White Matter Injury and General Movements in High-Risk Preterm Infants
Cerebral palsy has been predicted by analysis of spontaneous movements in the infant termed “General Movement Assessment.” The authors evaluated the utility of General Movement Assessment in predicting adverse cognitive, language, and motor outcomes in very preterm infants and attempted to identify brain imaging markers associated with both adverse outcomes and aberrant general movements in 47 preterm infants using MRI volumetric analysis and DTI. Nine infants had aberrant general movements and were more likely to have adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes, compared with infants with normal movements. In infants with aberrant movements, Tract-Based Spatial Statistics analysis identified significantly lower fractional anisotropy in widespread WM tracts. They conclude that aberrant general movements at 10–15 weeks' postterm are associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes and specific white matter microstructure abnormalities for cognitive, language, and motor delays.
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