Children's Brain Development Benefits from Longer Gestation

Abstract

Disruptions to brain development associated with shortened gestation place individuals at risk for the development of behavioral and psychological dysfunction throughout the lifespan. The purpose of the present study was to determine if the benefit for brain development conferred by increased gestational length exists on a continuum across the gestational age spectrum among healthy children with a stable neonatal course. Neurodevelopment was evaluated with structural magnetic resonance imaging in 100 healthy right-handed 6- to 10-year-old children born between 28 and 41 gestational weeks with a stable neonatal course. Data indicate that a longer gestational period confers an advantage for neurodevelopment. Longer duration of gestation was associated with region-specific increases in gray matter density. Further, the benefit of longer gestation for brain development was present even when only children born full term were considered. These findings demonstrate that even modest decreases in the duration of gestation can exert profound and lasting effects on neurodevelopment for both term and preterm infants and may contribute to long-term risk for health and disease.

Planned Birth Before 39 Weeks and Child Development: A Population-Based Study

“…The biological underpinning for an elevated risk of poor development is multifactorial and related to the curtailment of brain development, resulting in reduced gray matter volume, underdevelopment of neural and physiologic pathways critical to supporting brain growth postnatally, and subsequent learning difficulties arising from behavioral disorders. 1,2 Although early birth may be indicated and of demonstrated short-term benefit for selected highrisk pregnancies (eg, hypertension, prolonged pregnancy, suspected fetal growth restriction, prelabor rupture of membranes at term), for many conditions evidence is lacking or suggests little benefit (eg, suspected fetal macrosomia, maternal diabetes, preterm prelabor rupture of membranes). 33 -39 Furthermore, clinical research suggests that the threshold for planned birth and the gestational age for intervening has decreased.…”

“…Fetal brain development accelerates rapidly in the later stages of pregnancy from 32 weeks' gestation, making it vulnerable to disruption from shortened gestation. 1,2 There is growing evidence that, in addition to preterm birth (≤37 weeks' gestation), infants born early term (37-38 weeks) have a greater risk of neurodevelopmental impairment or poor school performance compared with infants born at the optimal time. 3 -7 Early childhood development is also important for future educational achievement, health, and well-being, 8 with 11% to 17% of children aged 4 to 6 years considered to be developmentally high risk (DHR) by school age.…”

Memory for neutral, emotional and trauma-related information in sexual abuse survivors

“…In the other study, the results failed to replicate the basic retrieval-induced forgetting effect expected (except in reaction times) (Blix & Brennen, 2012). Another study, which used a slightly different paradigm (directed forgetting), found that sexual abuse victims were more likely to recall trauma-related words they had been instructed to forget, compared to non-exposed participants; however, this was not the case for words they had been instructed to recall (Blix & Brennen, 2011). Overall, previous findings have thus been equivocal concerning the effects of content type on memory in trauma victims.…”

Influence of Gestational Age and Parental Education on Executive Functions of Children Born Very Preterm

“…This is plausible when considering the remarkable brain development in the last trimester of pregnancy [12]. Davis et al [32] reported that even modest decreases in the duration of pregnancy can be associated with profound and lasting effects on neurodevelopment, indicating a dose-response-relationship between the degree of prematurity and changes in structural brain maturation [16].…”