title: Early Brain Activity Relates to Subsequent Brain Growth in Premature Infants.
abstract: Recent experimental studies have shown that early brain activity is crucial for neuronal survival and the development of brain networks; however, it has been challenging to assess its role in the developing human brain. We employed serial quantitative magnetic resonance imaging to measure the rate of growth in circumscribed brain tissues from preterm to term age, and compared it with measures of electroencephalographic (EEG) activity during the first postnatal days by 2 different methods. EEG metrics of functional activity were computed: EEG signal peak-to-peak amplitude and the occurrence of developmentally important spontaneous activity transients (SATs). We found that an increased brain activity in the first postnatal days correlates with a faster growth of brain structures during subsequent months until term age. Total brain volume, and in particular subcortical gray matter volume, grew faster in babies with less cortical electrical quiescence and with more SAT events. The present findings are compatible with the idea that (1) early cortical network activity is important for brain growth, and that (2) objective measures may be devised to follow early human brain activity in a biologically reasoned way in future research as well as during intensive care treatment.
authors.affiliation: Division of Development and Growth, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland Department of Neonatology, Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Manon J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Benders
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering and Computational Science, School of Science, Aalto University, Helsinki FIN-00076, Finland Department of Children's Clinical Neurophysiology, Children's Hospital, Helsinki University Central Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Kirsi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Palmu
authors.affiliation: Division of Development and Growth, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Menache
authors.affiliation: Division of Development and Growth, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Borradori-Tolsa
authors.affiliation: Center for Biomedical Imaging (CIBM), Department of Radiology, University Hospital of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Francois
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lazeyras
authors.affiliation: Division of Development and Growth, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Stephane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sizonenko
authors.affiliation: Division of Development and Growth, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit U992, NeuroSpin, INSERM-CEA, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dubois
authors.affiliation: Department of Children's Clinical Neurophysiology, Children's Hospital, Helsinki University Central Hospital and University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Sampsa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vanhatalo
authors.affiliation: Division of Development and Growth, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Petra S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Hüppi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000502:physiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male
keywords: EEG; MRI; cortical folding; preterm infants; volumetric measurements