Nonlinear microstructural changes in the right superior temporal sulcus and lateral occipitotemporal gyrus between 35 and 43 weeks in the preterm brain.
Using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), we explored microstructural brain maturation in a population of 65 preterm neonates who underwent magnetic resonance imaging between 35 and 43 weeks of corrected gestational age. A voxel-based analysis approach, statistical parametric mapping (SPM8), was used to evidence the nonlinear changes with the corrected gestational age in the regional distribution of mean diffusivity (MD), fractional anisotropy (FA), longitudinal and transverse diffusivities (λ//and λ⊥). We found that FA changes nonlinearly with age around the right superior temporal sulcus and in the right lateral occipitotemporal gyrus, with FA decrease between 34 and 39 weeks followed by FA increase from 40 weeks to 43 weeks. Considering the key role of these brain areas in verbal and non-verbal communicative behaviors, the effect of these microstructural changes in terms of early social network functional maturation needs to be assessed by joint functional and anatomical studies.
Department of Pediatric Neurology, Université Libre de Bruxelles-Hôpital Erasme, Brussels, Belgium. alec.aeby@erasme.ulb.ac.be
Alec
A
Aeby
Patrick
P
Van Bogaert
Philippe
P
David
Danielle
D
Balériaux
Danièle
D
Vermeylen
Thierry
T
Metens
Xavier
X
De Tiège
D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000151:congenital* / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000473:pathology*; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000473:pathology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*