Brain Tissue Volumes at Term-Equivalent Age Are Associated with Early Motor Behavior in Very Preterm Infants.

Brain Tissue Volumes at Term-Equivalent Age Are Associated with Early Motor Behavior in Very Preterm Infants. Int J Dev Neurosci. 2020 May 20;: Authors: Katušić A, Raguž M, Žunić Išasegi I Abstract Preterm birth is associated with a wide range of adverse developmental outcomes, including sensory, motor, cognitive and language impairments, and behavioral or attention problems. Subtle motor deficits that might emerge in premature infants with no evident or with mild brain injury encompass qualitative and quantitative aspects of motor behavior. This prospective cohort study provided evaluation of the relationship between brain tissue volumes revealed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at term-equivalent age (TEA) and motor behavior in infancy in very preterm infants (total number=40; mean gestational age=28weeks+4days; mean birthweight=1190g) without evident or with mild brain injury. Infants were recruited at birth and assessed at 12 months corrected age (CA) using the tool for qualitative and quantitative assessment of motor behavior, Infant Motor Profile (IMP). The brain tissue was segmented first using advanced segmentation techniques and the volumes were measured by summing the volumes of all voxels belonging to a particular tissue class. The associations between volumetric brain MRI measures with motor behavior were explored using linear regression analyses. Results showed that larger total brain volumes were associated wit...
Source: International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Int J Dev Neurosci Source Type: research