The Neonatal Connectome During Preterm Brain Development.

ABSTRACT: The human connectome is the result of an elaborate developmental trajectory. Acquiring diffusion-weighted imaging and resting-state fMRI, we studied connectome formation during the preterm phase of macroscopic connectome genesis. In total, 27 neonates were scanned at week 30 and/or week 40 gestational age (GA). Examining the architecture of the neonatal anatomical brain network revealed a clear presence of a small-world modular organization before term birth. Analysis of neonatal functional connectivity (FC) showed the early formation of resting-state networks, suggesting that functional networks are present in the preterm brain, albeit being in an immature state. Moreover, structural and FC patterns of the neonatal brain network showed strong overlap with connectome architecture of the ad

SUBMITTER: van den Heuvel MP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4537441 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature