Association between brain activation (<scp>fMRI</scp>), cognition and school performance in extremely preterm and term born children

Griffiths, Silja Torvik; Aukland, Stein Magnus; Markestad, Trond; Eide, Geir Egil; Elgen, Irene Bircow; Craven, Alexander R.; Hugdahl, Kenneth

doi:10.1111/sjop.12145

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 33 publications

(39 reference statements)

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“…Earlier, Griffiths et al (2013Griffiths et al ( , 2014 performed fMRI on 11-year-old extremely prematurelyborn children while they performed a combined Stroop n-back task. In line with the present study, they reported reduced activation in the preterm compared with term-born children in the prefrontal cortical areas and, in addition, in parietal areas.…”

Section: N-back Task Performance and Brain Responsivenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Few fMRI studies have investigated the neural underpinnings of WM in school-aged children and adolescents born preterm. Impaired WM in 11-year-old children born extremely preterm was associated with reduced activations in fronto-parietal areas (Griffiths et al, 2013(Griffiths et al, , 2014, whereas 13-year-old adolescents born very preterm, compared with controls, had greater activation of the WM network during manipulation of information (Arthursson et al, 2017). In a study on 7-12-year-old children, very preterm-born children activated the right middle frontal gyrus less and the superior frontal gyrus more than controls during WM performance (Mürner-Lavanchy et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Altered working memory-related brain responses and white matter microstructure in extremely preterm-born children at school age

Tokariev

Vuontela

Lönnberg

et al. 2019

Brain and Cognition

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Preterm birth poses a risk for neurocognitive and behavioral development. Preterm children, who have not been diagnosed with neurological or cognitive deficits, enter normal schools and are expected to succeed as their term-born peers. Here we tested the hypotheses that despite an uneventful development after preterm birth, these children might exhibit subtle abnormalities in brain function and white-matter microstructure at school-age. We recruited 7.5-year-old children born extremely prematurely (< 28 weeks' gestation), and age-and gender-matched term-born controls (≥ 37 weeks' gestation). We applied fMRI during working-memory (WM) tasks, and investigated white-matter microstructure with diffusion tensor imaging. Compared with controls, preterm-born children performed WM tasks less accurately, had reduced activation in several right prefrontal areas, and weaker deactivation of right temporal lobe areas. The weaker prefrontal activation correlated with poorer WM performance. Preterm-born children had higher fractional anisotropy (FA) and lower diffusivity than controls in several white-matter areas, and in the posterior cerebellum, the higher FA associated with poorer visuospatial test scores. In controls, higher FA and lower diffusivity correlated with faster WM performance. Together these findings demonstrate weaker WM-related brain activations and altered white matter microstructure in children born extremely preterm, who had normal global cognitive ability.

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Section: N-back Task Performance and Brain Responsivenessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Altered working memory-related brain responses and white matter microstructure in extremely preterm-born children at school age

Tokariev

Vuontela

Lönnberg

et al. 2019

Brain and Cognition

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“…Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies, involving tasks such as the Stroop and number estimation, have shown an association between longer gestation and more pronounced hemodynamic responses in parietal brain regions. Shorter GA has also been associated with more prefrontal cortex activity in young adults born < 37 weeks’ gestation when completing a magnitude comparison task [20], in 6- to 7-year-old children born between 27-32 weeks with a numerical distance effect task [21, 22] and 11-year-old youth born < 28 weeks’ gestation with a working memory/selective attention task [23]. As FT children mature, areas of the brain associated with performing mathematics change from mostly frontal to less frontal and more parietal areas, possibly due to procedural changes in how mathematics is performed [24, 25].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fractions strategy differences in those born extremely preterm

Carr

Babinchak

Istrate

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Introduction: For those with weak cognitive skills, certain mathematical problem-solving strategies may be more difficult than others. Tailored mathematical instruction that recognizes cognitive load and incorporates ways to reduce this may help to overcome mathematical difficulties. To investigate the effects of different strategies and cognitive load we explored brain hemodynamic responses associated with the use of different strategies to solve subtraction of fractions. We focused on those born extremely preterm (EPT; less than 28 weeks gestation) as they are known to have cognitive challenges and struggle with mathematics in particular. We also included a group of full-term (FT) peers for comparison. Methods: Functional MRI was acquired while the participants mentally solved fraction equations using either an improper fractions strategy, where whole numbers are converted to improper fractions before solving, or a mixed fractions strategy, where computations are carried out separately for the whole numbers and fraction components. Different fraction item types were given, which affected respective required cognitive loads per strategy. Diffusion and T1-weighted structural images were also acquired. All imaging modalities were compared between the two groups. Results: The EPT and FT groups differed in terms of task-related hemodynamic responses, regional volumes, and white matter connectivity. Functional group differences varied with strategy and item type. These differences were greatest when the mixed fractions strategy was prompted for an item type that required relatively greater cognitive load and involved borrowing. Other findings showed reduced white and grey matter volume and reduced white matter connectivity in widespread areas in the EPT group compared to the FT group. Conclusion: Changes in the brain related to preterm birth are complex. The understanding of function and structure presented here may help inform pedagogical practices by allowing for tailoring of mathematical education through identifying suitable strategy adoption that depends on problem type, to circumvent weaknesses in cognitive skills.

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“…Our hypothesis was that the adolescents who had been born very preterm would show poorer performance in visual perception tasks compared with the group born full-term and that the neural activation pattern would differ between the groups, possibly due to suboptimal development of neural networks in children born very preterm. In some fMRI studies, only specific brain regions of interest selected in advance were analyzed (Gimenez et al, 2005;Griffiths et al, 2014). We chose to not limit the areas analyzed, since no previous studies with a comparable study protocol were found, and since relatively diffuse neural networks have been activated in participants born prematurely in earlier fMRI studies on cognitive processes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging during Visual Perception Tasks in Adolescents Born Prematurely

Study

Lind

Haataja³

et al. 2020

J Int Neuropsychol Soc

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Objectives: Impairments in visual perception are among the most common developmental difficulties related to being born prematurely, and they are often accompanied by problems in other developmental domains. Neural activation in participants born prematurely and full-term during tasks that assess several areas of visual perception has not been studied. To better understand the neural substrates of the visual perceptual impairments, we compared behavioral performance and brain activations during visual perception tasks in adolescents born very preterm (birth weight ≤1500 g or gestational age <32 weeks) and full-term. Methods: Tasks assessing visual closure, discrimination of a deviating figure, and discrimination of figure and ground from the Motor-Free Visual Perception Test, Third Edition were performed by participants born very preterm (n = 37) and full-term (n = 34) at 12 years of age during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Results: Behavioral performance in the visual perception tasks did not differ between the groups. However, during the visual closure task, brain activation was significantly stronger in the group born very preterm in a number of areas including the frontal, anterior cingulate, temporal, and posterior medial parietal/cingulate cortices, as well as in parts of the cerebellum, thalamus, and caudate nucleus. Conclusions: Differing activations during the visual closure task potentially reflect a compensatory neural process related to premature birth or lesser neural efficiency or may be a result of the use of compensatory behavioral strategies in the study group born very preterm.

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Association between brain activation (fMRI), cognition and school performance in extremely preterm and term born children

Cited by 5 publications

References 33 publications

Altered working memory-related brain responses and white matter microstructure in extremely preterm-born children at school age

Altered working memory-related brain responses and white matter microstructure in extremely preterm-born children at school age

Fractions strategy differences in those born extremely preterm

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging during Visual Perception Tasks in Adolescents Born Prematurely

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