title: Prematurity affects cortical maturation in early childhood.
abstract: Cortical development in the first years of age for children with very low birth weight is not well characterized. We obtained high-resolution structural magnetic resonance images from children aged 18-22 months (16 very low birth weight/7 term) and 3-4 years (12 very low birth weight/8 term). Cortical surface area and thickness of the brain were assessed using the FreeSurfer data analysis program, and manually inspected for accuracy. For children with very low birth weight, a negative correlation was evident between birth weight and cortical thickness at 18-22 months (P = 0.04), and a positive correlation with cortical surface area at 3-4 years (P = 0.02). Between groups, children with very low birth weight demonstrated a consistent trend for thicker cortices and reduced surface area, compared with control term children (18-22 month surface area, P = 0.08; thickness, P = 0.11; 3-4 year surface area, P = 0.73; thickness, P = 0.14). The normal processes of cortical thinning and surface area expansion in the first several years of age may be delayed by premature delivery, a potentially more prominent effect with greater degrees of prematurity.
authors: Department of Neurology, University of New Mexico Health Science Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. jphillips@mrn.org
authors: John P
authors: JP
authors: Phillips
authors: Erica Q
authors: EQ
authors: Montague
authors: Miranda
authors: M
authors: Aragon
authors: Jean R
authors: JR
authors: Lowe
authors: Ronald M
authors: RM
authors: Schrader
authors: Robin K
authors: RK
authors: Ohls
authors: Arvind
authors: A
authors: Caprihan
mesh_terms: D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000254:growth & development*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size