Health & Medicine
Premature Infants Have Weaker Brain Connections
Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Oct 20, 2015 08:13 PM EDT
Premature babies are at a higher risk for neurological and psychiatric problems, according to recent findings presented this week at Neuroscience 2015, the annual scientific meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago.
"The brain is particularly 'plastic' very early in life and potentially could be modified by early intervention," study author Dr. Cynthia Rogers, a child psychiatrist at Washington University of St. Louis, said in a news release. "We usually can't begin interventions until after symptoms develop, but what we're trying to do is develop objective measures of brain development in preemies that can indicate whether a child is likely to have later problems so that we can then intervene with extra support and therapy early on to try to improve outcomes."
In this recent study, researchers examined the connections in the brains of premature babies that are linked with problems in communication, attention and processing emotions.
They used functional magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor brain imaging to compare 58 babies born at full term with 76 infants born at a minimum of 10 weeks early. Full-term infants were scanned on their second or third day following birth while the premature babies were scanned within a few days of their due date.
Findings revealed that brain networks in infants that were linked to attention, communication, and emotion were weaker when compared to counterparts.
"We found significant differences in the white matter tracts and abnormalities in brain circuits in the infants born early, compared with those of infants born at full term," Rogers concluded.
Researchers plan to contine following the babies up until the age of 2 and then again at the age of 5. Afterwards, they said they're planning another series of brain scans in a few years as the original study participants age.
Statistics show that one out of every nine infants in the United States is born early--increasing the risk of cognitive difficulties, problems with motor skills, and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and anxiety.​​​
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TagsHealth, Human, Infants, Babies, Psychiatry, Psychiatric, neuroscience, Premature, premature birth, Birth ©2024 ScienceWorldReport.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. The window to the world of science news.
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First Posted: Oct 20, 2015 08:13 PM EDT
Premature babies are at a higher risk for neurological and psychiatric problems, according to recent findings presented this week at Neuroscience 2015, the annual scientific meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago.
"The brain is particularly 'plastic' very early in life and potentially could be modified by early intervention," study author Dr. Cynthia Rogers, a child psychiatrist at Washington University of St. Louis, said in a news release. "We usually can't begin interventions until after symptoms develop, but what we're trying to do is develop objective measures of brain development in preemies that can indicate whether a child is likely to have later problems so that we can then intervene with extra support and therapy early on to try to improve outcomes."
In this recent study, researchers examined the connections in the brains of premature babies that are linked with problems in communication, attention and processing emotions.
They used functional magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor brain imaging to compare 58 babies born at full term with 76 infants born at a minimum of 10 weeks early. Full-term infants were scanned on their second or third day following birth while the premature babies were scanned within a few days of their due date.
Findings revealed that brain networks in infants that were linked to attention, communication, and emotion were weaker when compared to counterparts.
"We found significant differences in the white matter tracts and abnormalities in brain circuits in the infants born early, compared with those of infants born at full term," Rogers concluded.
Researchers plan to contine following the babies up until the age of 2 and then again at the age of 5. Afterwards, they said they're planning another series of brain scans in a few years as the original study participants age.
Statistics show that one out of every nine infants in the United States is born early--increasing the risk of cognitive difficulties, problems with motor skills, and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and anxiety.​​​
Related Articles
Summer Babies Are Healthier: Sun Exposure Plays A Part
For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone