Fraello David, Maller-Kesselman Jill, Vohr Betty, Katz Karol H, Kesler Shelli, Schneider Karen, Reiss Allan, Ment Laura, Spann Marisa N
Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
J Child Neurol. 2011 Jun;26(6):738-42. doi: 10.1177/0883073810391904. Epub 2011 Apr 6.
This study tested the hypothesis that preterm early adolescents' short-term memory is compromised when presented with increasingly complex verbal information and that associated neuroanatomical volumes would differ between preterm and term groups. Forty-nine preterm and 20 term subjects were evaluated at age 12 years with neuropsychological measures and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). There were no differences between groups in simple short-term and working memory. Preterm subjects performed lower on learning and short-term memory tests that included increased verbal complexity. They had reduced right parietal, left temporal, and right temporal white matter volumes and greater bilateral frontal gray and right frontal white matter volumes. There was a positive association between complex working memory and the left hippocampus and frontal white matter in term subjects. While not correlated, memory scores and volumes of cortical regions known to subserve language and memory were reduced in preterm subjects. This study provides evidence of possible mechanisms for learning problems in former preterm infants.
当面对日益复杂的言语信息时，早产的青少年早期的短期记忆会受到损害，并且早产组和足月组之间相关神经解剖学体积会有所不同。对49名早产和20名足月受试者在12岁时进行了神经心理学测量和磁共振成像（MRI）评估。在简单的短期记忆和工作记忆方面，两组之间没有差异。早产受试者在包括言语复杂性增加的学习和短期记忆测试中表现较差。他们右侧顶叶、左侧颞叶和右侧颞叶白质体积减小，双侧额叶灰质和右侧额叶白质体积增大。在足月受试者中，复杂工作记忆与左侧海马体和额叶白质之间存在正相关。虽然不相关，但早产受试者中已知参与语言和记忆的皮质区域的记忆分数和体积降低。本研究为既往早产婴儿学习问题的可能机制提供了证据。
