Mürner, Ines; Steinlin, Maja; Rummel, Christian; Perrig, Walter J.; Everts, Regula (July 2014). Delay of cortical thinning in very preterm born children (Unpublished). In: Mid-Year Meeting of the International Neuropsychological Society. Jerusalem Israel. July 2014.
Objective: Cortical gray matter thinning takes place during childhood due to pruning of inefficient synaptic connections and an increase in myelination. Alterations in brain structure occur in very preterm born children with prolonged maturation of the frontal lobes and smaller cortical and white matter volume. These findings give rise to the question if age affects cortical thinning differently in very preterm born children compared to controls. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between age and cortical thickness in very preterm born children when compared to controls.
Participants and Methods: Forty-one very preterm born children (<32 weeks gestational age and/or < 1500 gram birth weight) and 30term born controls were included in the study (7-12 years). The automated surface reconstruction software FreeSurfer was applied to obtain measurements of cortical thickness based on T1-weighted MRI images.
Results: Cortical thickness was lower in bilateral frontal and left parietal regions and higher in left temporal gyri in very preterm born children compared to controls. However, these differences depended on age. In very preterm born children, age correlated negatively with cortical thickness in right frontal, parietal and inferior temporal regions. Accordingly, cortical thickness was higher in young compared to old very preterm born children in bilateral frontal, parietal and temporal regions. In controls, age was not associated with cortical thickness.
Conclusions: In very preterm born children, cortical thinning still occurs between the age of 7 and 12 years, mainly in frontal and parietal areas. In controls, however, a substantial part of cortical thinning appears to be completed in these regions before they reach the age of 7 years. These data indicate a delay in cortical thinning in very preterm born children.
Item Type: |
Conference or Workshop Item (Poster) |
|---|---|
Division/Institute: |
04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Gynaecology, Paediatrics and Endocrinology (DFKE) > Clinic of Paediatric Medicine 07 Faculty of Human Sciences > Institute of Psychology > Psychological and Behavioral Health 04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Radiology, Neuroradiology and Nuclear Medicine (DRNN) > Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology |
UniBE Contributor: |
Mürner-Lavanchy, Ines Mirjam, Steinlin, Maja, Rummel, Christian, Perrig, Walter, Everts, Regula |
Subjects: |
600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health 100 Philosophy > 150 Psychology |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Anette van Dorland |
Date Deposited: |
08 Apr 2015 13:43 |
Last Modified: |
02 Mar 2023 23:26 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/67226 |
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