title: Gestational age and neonatal brain microstructure in term born infants: a birth cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Understanding healthy brain development in utero is crucial in order to detect abnormal developmental trajectories due to developmental disorders. However, in most studies neuroimaging was done after a significant postnatal period, and in those studies that performed neuroimaging on fetuses, the quality of data has been affected due to complications of scanning during pregnancy. To understand healthy brain development between 37-41 weeks of gestational age, our study assessed the in utero growth of the brain in healthy term born babies with DTI scanning soon after birth.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cohort of 93 infants recruited from maternity hospitals in Singapore underwent diffusion tensor imaging between 5 to 17 days after birth. We did a cross-sectional examination of white matter microstructure of the brain among healthy term infants as a function of gestational age via voxel-based analysis on fractional anisotropy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Greater gestational age at birth in term infants was associated with larger fractional anisotropy values in early developing brain regions, when corrected for age at scan. Specifically, it was associated with a cluster located at the corpus callosum (corrected p<0.001), as well as another cluster spanning areas of the anterior corona radiata, anterior limb of internal capsule, and external capsule (corrected p<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings show variation in brain maturation associated with gestational age amongst 'term' infants, with increased brain maturation when born with a relatively higher gestational age in comparison to those infants born with a relatively younger gestational age. Future studies should explore if these differences in brain maturation between 37 and 41 weeks of gestational age will persist over time due to development outside the womb.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore; Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Birit F P
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Broekman
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Changqing
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rifkin-Graboi
authors.affiliation: Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Seang Mei
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Saw
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Yap-Seng
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.affiliation: Department of Maternal Fetal Medicine, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kwek
authors.affiliation: Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore, Singapore; Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Peter D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Gluckman
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging, KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Marielle V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Fortier
authors.affiliation: Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore, Singapore; Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology & Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Meaney
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore; Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, Singapore, Singapore; Clinical Imaging Research Centre, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Anqi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Qiu
mesh_terms: D016880:Anisotropy; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000254:growth & development*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003710:Demography; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D047929:Term Birth