Adibpour Parvaneh, Nasser Hala, Pedoux Amandine, Devisscher Laurie, Elbaz Nicolas, Ghozland Chloé, Hinnekens Elodie, Neumane Sara, Kabdebon Claire, Lefebvre Aline, Kaminska Anna, Hertz-Pannier Lucie, Heneau Alice, Sibony Olivier, Alison Marianne, Delanoë Catherine, Delorme Richard, Barbu-Roth Marianne, Biran Valérie, Dubois Jessica
Université Paris Cité, INSERM, NeuroDiderot, Paris, France.
Université Paris Saclay, CEA, NeuroSpin, UNIACT, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
Imaging Neurosci (Camb). 2025 Jan 29;3. doi: 10.1162/imag_a_00450. eCollection 2025.
By interfering with the normal sequence of mechanisms serving the brain maturation, premature birth and related stress can alter perinatal experiences, with potential long-term consequences on a child's neurodevelopment. The early characterization of brain functioning and maturational changes is thus of critical interest in premature infants who are at high risk of atypical outcomes and could benefit from early diagnosis and dedicated interventions. Using high-density electroencephalography (HD-EEG), we recorded brain activity in extreme and very preterm infants at the equivalent age of pregnancy term (n = 43), and longitudinally 2 months later (n = 33), compared with full-term born infants (n = 14). We characterized the maturation of brain activity by using a dedicated microstate analysis to quantify the spatio-temporal dynamics of the spontaneous transient network activity while controlling for vigilance states. The comparison of premature and full-term infants first showed slower dynamics as well as altered spatio-temporal properties of brain activity in preterm infants. Maturation of functional networks between term-equivalent age and 2 months later in preterms was linked to the emergence of faster dynamics, manifested in part by shorter duration of microstates, as well as an evolution in the spatial organization of the dominant microstates. The inter-individual differences in the temporal dynamics of brain activity at term-equivalent age were further impacted by sex (with slower microstate dynamics in boys) and by gestational age at birth for some microstate dynamics but not by other considered risk factors. This study highlights the potential of the microstate approach to reveal maturational properties of the emerging brain network activity in premature infants.
通过干扰服务于大脑成熟的正常机制序列，早产及相关应激会改变围产期经历，对儿童神经发育产生潜在的长期影响。因此，对于有非典型结局高风险且可能从早期诊断和专门干预中受益的早产儿来说，早期表征大脑功能和成熟变化至关重要。我们使用高密度脑电图（HD-EEG）记录了孕龄相当于足月时的极早早产儿和超早早产儿（n = 43）以及2个月后的纵向记录（n = 33）的大脑活动，并与足月儿（n = 14）进行比较。我们通过使用专门的微状态分析来量化自发瞬态网络活动的时空动态，同时控制警觉状态，以此表征大脑活动的成熟情况。早产儿和足月儿的比较首先显示出早产儿大脑活动的动态较慢以及时空特性改变。早产儿在相当于足月年龄和2个月后功能网络的成熟与更快动态的出现有关，部分表现为微状态持续时间缩短，以及主导微状态空间组织的演变。在相当于足月年龄时大脑活动时间动态的个体差异进一步受到性别影响（男孩微状态动态较慢）以及出生孕周对某些微状态动态的影响，但不受其他所考虑的风险因素影响。这项研究突出了微状态方法在揭示早产儿新兴大脑网络活动成熟特性方面的潜力。
