title: Altered Structural and Functional Connectivity in Late Preterm Preadolescence: An Anatomic Seed-Based Study of Resting State Networks Related to the Posteromedial and Lateral Parietal Cortex.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Late preterm birth confers increased risk of developmental delay, academic difficulties and social deficits. The late third trimester may represent a critical period of development of neural networks including the default mode network (DMN), which is essential to normal cognition. Our objective is to identify functional and structural connectivity differences in the posteromedial cortex related to late preterm birth.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-eight preadolescents (ages 9-13; 19 born in the late preterm period (≥32 weeks gestational age) and 19 at term) without access to advanced neonatal care were recruited from a low socioeconomic status community in Brazil. Participants underwent neurocognitive testing, 3-dimensional T1-weighted imaging, diffusion-weighted imaging and resting state functional MRI (RS-fMRI). Seed-based probabilistic diffusion tractography and RS-fMRI analyses were performed using unilateral seeds within the posterior DMN (posterior cingulate cortex, precuneus) and lateral parietal DMN (superior marginal and angular gyri).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Late preterm children demonstrated increased functional connectivity within the posterior default mode networks and increased anti-correlation with the central-executive network when seeded from the posteromedial cortex (PMC). Key differences were demonstrated between PMC components with increased anti-correlation with the salience network seen only with posterior cingulate cortex seeding but not with precuneus seeding. Probabilistic tractography showed increased streamlines within the right inferior longitudinal fasciculus and inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus within late preterm children while decreased intrahemispheric streamlines were also observed. No significant differences in neurocognitive testing were demonstrated between groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Late preterm preadolescence is associated with altered functional connectivity from the PMC and lateral parietal cortex to known distributed functional cortical networks despite no significant executive neurocognitive differences. Selective increased structural connectivity was observed in the setting of decreased posterior interhemispheric connections. Future work is needed to determine if these findings represent a compensatory adaptation employing alternate neural circuitry or could reflect subtle pathology resulting in emotional processing deficits not seen with neurocognitive testing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Radiology, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, 4401 Penn Avenue, Floor 2, Pittsburgh, PA, 15224, United States of America; Department of Radiology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), 3950 Presby South Tower, 200 Lothrop Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States of America.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Degnan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Radiology, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, 4401 Penn Avenue, Floor 2, Pittsburgh, PA, 15224, United States of America; Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, 3620A McClintock Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90089, United States of America; Department of Radiology, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90027, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jessica L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Wisnowski
authors.affiliation: Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, 3620A McClintock Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90089, United States of America.
authors.forename: SoYoung
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Radiology, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, 4401 Penn Avenue, Floor 2, Pittsburgh, PA, 15224, United States of America; Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ceschin
authors.affiliation: Signal and Image Processing Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, United States of America.
authors.forename: Chitresh
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bhushan
authors.affiliation: Signal and Image Processing Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, United States of America.
authors.forename: Richard M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Leahy
authors.affiliation: Twins Institute for Genetics Research, Montes Claros, Minas Gerais 39400-115, Brazil; New York University Bluestone Center for Clinical Research, 421 1st Ave, New York, NY 10010, United States of America.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Corby
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Radiology, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, 4401 Penn Avenue, Floor 2, Pittsburgh, PA, 15224, United States of America.
authors.forename: Vincent J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Schmithorst
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Radiology, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, 4401 Penn Avenue, Floor 2, Pittsburgh, PA, 15224, United States of America; Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, 3620A McClintock Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90089, United States of America; Department of Radiology, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90027, United States of America; Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Ashok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Panigrahy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000503:physiopathology