Brain development
How Premature Birth Alters Early Brain Network Development
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
Babies born prematurely show a relative preservation of core brain connections but have reduced connectivity in local pathways compared to babies born closer to their due dates.
How this study connects
Role on claims
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As infants age, they experience a widespread increase in fractional anisotropy and neurite density across major structural connections, signaling rapid white matter maturation and myelination.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
Premature birth selectively impairs local, short-range structural connections—characterized by reduced fractional anisotropy and neurite density—while largely sparing the highly central core connections of the brain.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
Study at a glance
- Design
- Cohort — Neonatal diffusion MRI tractography and neurite-density mapping by gestational age at birth
- N
- N=65 · 8 infants scanned twice; birth GA 24+2 to 41+1 weeks; scanned ≤46 weeks PMA
- Population
- Preterm and term neonates undergoing high-resolution diffusion MRI
- Outcome
- Age- and prematurity-related change in structural-network neurite density and fractional anisotropy
Structured fields used in claim comparison tables when every cited study has a complete layer.
Inspect source passages
How Premature Birth Alters Early Brain Network Development
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8 subjects were scanned twice
Of those, 8 subjects were scanned twice (median 6 +6 , range 3 +3 −8 +5 weeks after the first scan).
What was the primary objective of this study regarding structural brain networks prior to term-equivalent age?
In this study we used high angular resolution multi-shell dMRI to assess connectivity between brain regions using connectivity metrics obtained from the diffusion tensor (fractional anisotropy, FA) as well as streamline measures obtained using constrained spherical deconvolution (CSD) with the spherical-deconvolution informed filtering of tractograms (SIFT) algorithm (, ) and NODDI model characteristics: neurite density index (NDI) and orientation dispersion index (ODI).
Key findings
With increasing age, infants showed a widespread increase in neurite density and fractional anisotropy across most brain connections, particularly between deep grey matter and central cortical regions. However, infants born more prematurely had significantly lower neurite density and fractional anisotropy values in local, short-range connections, while their highly central core connections remained relatively preserved. This imbalance resulted in an apparent increase in normalized neurite density-weighted global efficiency in preterm infants, driven specifically by the loss of local connection strength rather than an actual improvement in network architecture.
Methodology
The researchers scanned 65 neonates using high-resolution diffusion magnetic resonance imaging, with 8 subjects scanned twice. The infants' gestational age at birth ranged from 24 +2 to 41 +1 weeks, and post-menstrual age at scanning ranged from 25 +3 to 45 +6 weeks. The team mapped structural brain networks using advanced tractography and estimated tissue microstructure using modeling techniques.
Limitations
This study is primarily correlational and cannot prove that premature birth directly causes the observed structural abnormalities, as confounding clinical factors like respiratory distress or medical treatments could also play a role. The sample size of 65 neonates is relatively small, and because the infants were scanned during sleep or under mild sedation at term-equivalent age, potential long-term functional and behavioral outcomes could not be directly measured at this stage. Additionally, the study does not show how these early structural network alterations adapt or resolve as these children grow older.
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