title: Family Nurture Intervention in preterm infants alters frontal cortical functional connectivity assessed by EEG coherence.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the impact of Family Nurture Intervention (FNI) on cortical function in preterm infants at term age.
  
  
  METHODS
  Family Nurture Intervention is a NICU-based intervention designed to establish emotional connection between mothers and preterm infants. Infants born at 26-34 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA) were divided into two groups, standard care (SC, N = 49) and FNI (FNI, N = 56). Infants had EEG recordings of ~one hour duration with 124 lead nets between 37 and 44 weeks PMA. Coherence was measured between all pairs of electrodes in ten frequency bands. Data were summarised both within and between 12 regions during two sleep states (active, quiet).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Coherence levels were negatively correlated with PMA age in both groups. As compared to SC infants, FNI infants showed significantly lower levels of EEG coherence (1-18 Hz) largely within and between frontal regions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Coherence in FNI infants was decreased in regions where we previously found robust increases in EEG power. As coherence decreases with age, results suggest that FNI may accelerate brain maturation particularly in frontal brain regions, which have been shown in research by others to be involved in regulation of attention, cognition and emotion regulation; domains deficient in preterm infants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.|Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA.|Division of Developmental Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.|Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: P G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Grieve
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: R I
authors.initials: RI
authors.lastname: Stark
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Isler
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA.|Division of Developmental Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Hofer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA.|Division of Developmental Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Ludwig
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.|Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA.|Division of Developmental Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA.|Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Welch
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003422:Critical Care; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D012890:Sleep
keywords: Brain maturation; Emotional connection; Maternal; NICU; Premature birth