title: Corpus callosum size and neuropsychologic impairment in adolescents who were born preterm.
abstract: Prematurity is associated with cerebral abnormalities that might account for poorer cognitive performance. The aim of our study was to investigate the correlations between corpus callosum reductions and neuropsychologic performance in adolescents who were born preterm. Twenty-five subjects born before 33 weeks' gestation were compared with 25 subjects born at term and of similar age, gender, and sociocultural status. All subjects underwent magnetic resonance imaging and neuropsychologic examinations. Premature subjects performed worse than controls in global cognitive functioning, verbal memory, and verbal fluency. Corpus callosum measurements showed a global reduction owing mainly to thinning in the splenium, posterior midbody, and genu. Corpus callosum size significantly correlated with gestational age, Wechsler Performance IQ, and memory performance. These results suggest that cerebral growth during infancy does not compensate for corpus callosum reduction and that this reduction reflects neuropsychologic deficit. The cognitive impairment can arise from the paucity of the complex interneuronal connections owing to fiber damage, particularly myelinated fibers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiaty and Clinical Psychobiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Caldú
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Narberhaus
authors.forename: Carme
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Junqué
authors.forename: Mónica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giménez
authors.forename: Pere
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vendrell
authors.forename: Núria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bargalló
authors.forename: Dolors
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Segarra
authors.forename: Francesc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Botet
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009929:Organ Size