Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, Cincinnati, USA.
Perinatal Institute, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, USA.
Sci Rep. 2020 Jul 2;10(1):10824. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-67662-7.
Children born extremely preterm (< 28 weeks gestation, EPT) are at increased risk for language and other neurocognitive deficits compared to term controls (TC). Prior studies have reported both increases and decreases in cortical thickness in EPT across the cerebrum. These studies have not formally normalized for intracranial volume (ICV), which is especially important as EPT children often have smaller stature, head size, and ICV. We previously reported increased interhemispheric functional and structural connectivity in a well-controlled group of school-aged EPT children with no known brain injury or neurological deficits. Functional and structural hyperconnectivity between left and right temporoparietal regions was positively related with language scores in EPT, which may be reflected in measures of cortical thickness. To characterize possible language network cortical thickness effects, 15 EPT children and 15 TC underwent standardized assessments of language and structural magnetic resonance imaging at 4 to 6 years of age. Images were subjected to volumetric and cortical thickness analyses using FreeSurfer. Whole-brain analyses of cortical thickness were conducted both with and without normalization by ICV. Non-normalized results showed thinner temporal cortex for EPT, while ICV-normalized results showed thicker cortical regions in the right temporal lobe (FDRq = 0.05). Only ICV-normalized results were significantly related to language scores, with right temporal cortical thickness being positively correlated with performance.
极早产儿（<28 周妊娠）出生的儿童与足月对照（TC）相比，语言和其他神经认知缺陷的风险增加。先前的研究报告称，在整个大脑中，EPT 的皮质厚度都有增加和减少。这些研究没有对颅内体积（ICV）进行正式的归一化，这一点尤为重要，因为 EPT 儿童的身材、头围和 ICV 通常较小。我们之前报道了在一组经过严格控制的、无已知脑损伤或神经发育缺陷的学龄期 EPT 儿童中，大脑左右半球之间的功能和结构连接增加。EPT 中左、右颞顶叶区域之间的功能和结构超连接与语言分数呈正相关，这可能反映在皮质厚度的测量上。为了描述可能的语言网络皮质厚度效应，15 名 EPT 儿童和 15 名 TC 在 4 至 6 岁时接受了语言和结构磁共振成像的标准化评估。使用 FreeSurfer 对图像进行体积和皮质厚度分析。对皮质厚度进行了全脑分析，包括不通过 ICV 进行归一化的分析。非归一化结果显示 EPT 的颞叶皮质较薄，而 ICV 归一化结果显示右侧颞叶皮质较厚（FDRq=0.05）。只有 ICV 归一化的结果与语言分数显著相关，右侧颞叶皮质厚度与表现呈正相关。
