Impaired structural connectivity between dorsal attention network and pulvinar mediates the impact of premature birth on adult visual-spatial abilities.

ABSTRACT: The dorsal attention network (DAN), including frontal eye fields and posterior parietal cortices, and its link with the posterior thalamus, contribute to visual-spatial abilities. Very premature birth impairs both visual-spatial abilities and cortico-thalamic structural connectivity. We hypothesized that impaired structural DAN-pulvinar connectivity mediates the effect of very premature birth on adult visual-spatial abilities. Seventy very premature (median age 26.6 years) and 57 mature born adults (median age 26.6 years) were assessed with cognitive tests and diffusion tensor imaging. Perceptual organization (PO) index of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III was used as a proxy for visual-spatial abilities, and connection probability maps in the thalamus, derived from probabilistic t

SUBMITTER: Berndt M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6865666 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature