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Development of brain white matter and math computation ability in children born very preterm and full-term.

ABSTRACT: Children born very preterm (VPT; <32 weeks' gestation) have alterations in brain white matter and poorer math ability than full-term (FT) peers. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging studies suggest a link between white matter microstructure and math in VPT and FT children, although longitudinal studies using advanced modelling are lacking. In a prospective longitudinal cohort of VPT and FT children we used Fixel-Based Analysis to investigate associations between maturation of white matter fibre density (FD), fibre-bundle cross-section (FC), and combined fibre density and cross-section (FDC) and math computation ability at 7 (n = 136 VPT; n = 32 FT) and 13 (n = 130 VPT; n = 44 FT) years, as well as between change in white matter and math computation ability from 7 to 13 years (n = 103 VPT; n = 21 FT). In both VPT and FT children, higher FD, FC and FDC in visual, sensorimotor and cortico-thalamic/thalamo-cortical white matter tracts were associated with better math computation ability at 7 and 13 years. Longitudinally, accelerated maturation of the posterior body of the corpus callosum (FDC) was associated with greater math computation development. White matter-math associations were similar for VPT and FT children. In conclusion, white matter maturation is associated with math computation ability across late childhood, irrespective of birth group.

SUBMITTER: Collins SE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8319459 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Development of brain white matter and math computation ability in children born very preterm and full-term.

Collins Simonne E SE Thompson Deanne K DK Kelly Claire E CE Yang Joseph Y M JYM Pascoe Leona L Inder Terrie E TE Doyle Lex W LW Cheong Jeanie L Y JLY Burnett Alice C AC Anderson Peter J PJ

Developmental cognitive neuroscience 20210712

Children born very preterm (VPT; <32 weeks' gestation) have alterations in brain white matter and poorer math ability than full-term (FT) peers. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging studies suggest a link between white matter microstructure and math in VPT and FT children, although longitudinal studies using advanced modelling are lacking. In a prospective longitudinal cohort of VPT and FT children we used Fixel-Based Analysis to investigate associations between maturation of white matt ...[more]

PMID: 34273749

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Project description:Individuals born very preterm (VPT; <32 weeks' gestational age) are at increased risk of impaired mathematics and word reading performance, as well as widespread white matter microstructural alterations compared with individuals born full term (FT; ≥37 weeks' gestational age). To date, the link between academic performance and white matter microstructure is not well understood. This study aimed to investigate the associations between mathematics and reading performance with white matter microstructure in 114 VPT and 36 FT 13-year-old children. Additionally, we aimed to investigate whether the association of mathematics and reading performance with white matter microstructure in VPT children varied as a function of impairment. To do this, we used diffusion tensor imaging and advanced diffusion modelling techniques (Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging and the Spherical Mean Technique), combined with a whole-brain analysis approach (Tract-Based Spatial Statistics). Mathematics performance across VPT and FT groups was positively associated with white matter microstructural measurements of fractional anisotropy and neurite density, and negatively associated with radial and mean diffusivities in widespread, bilateral regions. Furthermore, VPT children with a mathematics impairment (>1 standard deviation below FT mean) had significantly reduced neurite density compared with VPT children without an impairment. Reading performance was not significantly associated with any of the white matter microstructure parameters. Additionally, the associations between white matter microstructure and mathematics and reading performance did not differ significantly between VPT and FT groups. Our findings suggest that alterations in white matter microstructure, and more specifically lower neurite density, are associated with poorer mathematics performance in 13-year-old VPT and FT children. More research is required to understand the association between reading performance and white matter microstructure in 13-year-old children.

Project description:Very preterm birth is associated with altered white matter microstructure and language difficulties, which may compromise communication, social function and academic achievement, but the relationship between these two factors is unclear. The aim of this study was to explore associations between white matter microstructure and language domains of semantics, grammar and phonological awareness at 7-years of age on a whole-brain level and within the arcuate fasciculus, an important language pathway, in very preterm and term-born children. Language was assessed in 145 very preterm-born (<30 weeks' gestation and/or <1250 g birth weight) and 33 term-born children aged 7 years. Fractional anisotropy (FA), axial diffusivity (AD), radial diffusivity (RD), mean diffusivity (MD), axon orientation dispersion and axon density were estimated from diffusion magnetic resonance images also obtained at 7 years. The correlation between diffusion values and language was assessed using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS). The arcuate fasciculus was delineated using constrained spherical deconvolution tractography and diffusion parameters from this tract were related to language measures using linear regression. While there was evidence for widespread associations between white matter microstructure and language, there was little evidence of differences in these associations between very preterm and term-born groups. TBSS analyses revealed that higher FA and lower AD, RD, and MD in major fibre tracts, including those subserving language, were associated with better semantic, grammar and phonological awareness performance. Higher axon density in widespread fibre tracts was also associated with better semantic performance. The tractography analyses of the arcuate fasciculus showed some evidence for associations between white matter microstructure and language outcomes. White matter microstructural organisation in widespread fibre tracts, including language-relevant pathways, was associated with language performance in whole-brain and tract-based analyses. The associations were similar for very preterm and term-born groups, despite very preterm children performing more poorly across language domains.

Dataset Information

Development of brain white matter and math computation ability in children born very preterm and full-term.

Publications

Development of brain white matter and math computation ability in children born very preterm and full-term.

Similar Datasets

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