Tarullo Amanda R, Evans Denise, Coetzee Lezanie, Lopera-Perez Diana C, Brady Shaina P, Gabard-Durnam Laurel J, Fink Günther, Hamer Davidson H, Yousafzai Aisha K, Rockers Peter C
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2041, South Africa.
Brain Sci. 2024 May 29;14(6):552. doi: 10.3390/brainsci14060552.
Anthropometric measures at birth, indexing prenatal growth, are associated with later cognitive development. Children in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) are at elevated risk for impaired prenatal and early postnatal growth and enduring cognitive deficits. However, the associations of neonatal physical growth with neural activity are not well-characterized in LMIC contexts, given the dearth of early childhood neuroimaging research in these settings. The current study examined birth length, weight, and head circumference as predictors of EEG relative power over the first three years of life in rural Limpopo Province, South Africa, controlling for postnatal growth and socioeconomic status (SES). A larger head circumference at birth predicted lower relative gamma power, lower right hemisphere relative beta power, and higher relative alpha and theta power. A greater birth length also predicted lower relative gamma power. There were interactions with timepoints such that the associations of birth head circumference and length with EEG power were most pronounced at the 7-month assessment and were attenuated at the 17- and 36-month assessments. The results identify birth head circumference and length as specific predictors of infant neural activity within an under-resourced context.
出生时的人体测量指标，用于衡量产前生长情况，与后期认知发展相关。低收入和中等收入国家（LMIC）的儿童在产前和产后早期生长受损以及持续存在认知缺陷方面面临更高风险。然而，鉴于这些地区幼儿神经影像学研究匮乏，在LMIC环境中，新生儿身体生长与神经活动之间的关联尚未得到充分描述。本研究以南非林波波省农村地区为研究对象，将出生时的身长、体重和头围作为生命最初三年脑电图相对功率的预测指标，同时控制产后生长和社会经济地位（SES）。出生时较大的头围预示着较低的相对伽马功率、较低的右半球相对贝塔功率以及较高的相对阿尔法和西塔功率。出生时较长的身长也预示着较低的相对伽马功率。存在与时间点的交互作用，即出生时头围和身长与脑电图功率的关联在7个月评估时最为明显，在17个月和36个月评估时减弱。研究结果确定，在资源匮乏的环境中，出生时的头围和身长是婴儿神经活动的特定预测指标。
