Longitudinal White Matter Maturation in Preterm Infants: Functional Pathway-Specific Trajectories and Associations with Motor Outcomes.

ABSTRACT: Background: During the first 2 years of life, human white matter (WM) undergoes rapid development, establishing a structural foundation for later neurodevelopment. Methods: We conducted a mixed-model analysis for repeated measures to investigate the developmental trajectories of functionally distinct 26 WM pathways between preterm and full-term groups during the first 2 years of life using diffusion tensor imaging (total scans = 174; preterm = 58; full-term = 23). Results: We observed significant differences between the preterm and full-term groups in the developmental trajectories associated with motor function (left corticospinal tract and left pre-primary motor cortex connection tracts), visual processing (bilateral pathway between the V1/V2 and V4, PV-MT, pathway c

SUBMITTER: Lee GY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12842470 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature