Neonatal amygdala resting-state functional connectivity and socio-emotional development in very preterm children

Abstract

Very preterm children are more likely to exhibit difficulties in socio-emotional processing than their term-born peers. Emerging socio-emotional problems may be partly due to alterations in limbic system development associated with infants’ early transition to extrauterine life. The amygdala is a key structure in this system and plays a critical role in various aspects of socio-emotional development, including emotion regulation. The current study tested the hypothesis that amygdala resting-state functional connectivity at term-equivalent age is associated with socio-emotional outcomes in childhood. Participants were 129 very preterm infants who underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at term and received a neurodevelopmental assessment at 4-7 years (median = 4.64). Using the left and right amygdala as seed regions, we investigated associations between whole-brain seed-based functional connectivity and three socio-emotional outcome factors which were derived using exploratory factor analysis (Emotion Moderation, Social Function and Empathy), controlling for sex, neonatal sickness, post-menstrual age at scan, and social risk. Childhood Emotion Moderation scores were significantly associated with neonatal resting-state functional connectivity of the right amygdala with right parahippocampal gyrus and right middle occipital gyrus, as well as with functional connectivity of the left amygdala with the right thalamus. No significant associations were found between amygdala resting-state functional connectivity and either Social Function or Empathy factors. The current findings suggest that amygdalar functional connectivity assessed at term is associated with later socio-emotional outcomes in very preterm children.

Amygdala subnuclei volumes, functional connectivity, and social–emotional outcomes in children born very preterm

“…Therefore, the current findings, along with those reported elsewhere ( Johns et al. 2019 , Kanel et al. 2022 ), suggest that perhaps this association develops later in childhood, potentially reflecting a long-term impact of early life stress on neurodevelopment ( Smith et al.…”

“…2019 ) reporting that altered amygdala connectivity is correlated with social impairment in adults born preterm. However, other research ( Kanel et al. 2022 ) has reported no association between amygdala resting state connectivity at birth and social function between the ages of 4 and 7.…”

Emotion Recognition in Preterm and Full-Term School-Age Children

“…Indeed, the functional maturation of the so-called “social brain” is altered in infants with a family history of autism spectrum disorder, suggesting a key vulnerability for processing social information [ 37 ]. Notably, atypical patterns of brain maturation and connectivity in their “social brain” have been associated with socio-emotional behavioral outcomes in children who were born preterm [ 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 ].…”

Longitudinal neonatal brain development and socio-demographic correlates of infant outcomes following preterm birth

“…Research investigating the neonatal neural correlates of psychopathology has mainly focused on specific characteristics pertinent to the so-called preterm behavioural phenotype, encompassing anxiety, socio-emotional, and attention-related problems in early childhood (Brenner et al, 2021b). For example, socio-emotional problems have been associated with reduced regional brain volumes (Rogers et al, 2012), alterations in white matter connectivity (Brenner et al, 2021a; Kanel et al, 2021; Rogers et al, 2016) and functional connectivity (Kanel et al, 2022; Rogers et al, 2017; Sylvester et al, 2018) in the neonatal period. These effects, however, also show considerable overlap with the potential early neural mechanisms implicated in cognitive, motor, and language development, such as subcortical volume reductions (Chau et al, 2019; Loh et al, 2017), structural and functional connectivity alterations in sensory and cognitive networks (Ball et al, 2015; Gozdas et al, 2018; Peyton et al, 2020; Rogers et al, 2017).…”