Dataset Information

White matter properties associated with pre-reading skills in 6-year-old children born preterm and at term.

ABSTRACT: To assess associations between white matter properties and pre-reading skills (phonological awareness and receptive and expressive language) in children born preterm and at term at the onset of reading acquisition.Six-year-old children born preterm (n=36; gestational age 22-32wks) and at term (n=43) underwent diffusion magnetic resonance imaging and behavioural assessments. Tracts were selected a priori based on findings from a study of 6-year-old children born at term: the left-hemisphere arcuate fasciculus and superior longitudinal fasciculus, and right-hemisphere uncinate fasciculus. Using linear regression, we assessed associations between fractional anisotropy of tracts and phonological awareness and receptive and expressive language scores. We investigated whether associations were moderated by prematurity.Fractional anisotropy of the left-hemisphere arcuate fasciculus contributed unique variance to phonological awareness across birth groups. The association between fractional anisotropy of the right-hemisphere uncinate fasciculus and receptive and expressive language was significantly moderated by prematurity.A left-hemisphere tract was associated with phonological awareness in both birth groups. A right-hemisphere tract was associated with language only in the term group, suggesting that expressive and receptive language is mediated by different white matter pathways in 6-year-old children born preterm. These findings provide novel insights into similarities and differences of the neurobiology of pre-reading skills between children born preterm and at term at reading onset.White matter properties and pre-reading abilities were associated in children born preterm at the onset of reading. The neurobiology of phonological awareness was similar in children born preterm versus children born at term at 6 years. The neurobiology of language was different in children born preterm versus children born at term at 6 years.

SUBMITTER: Dodson CK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5993607 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

White matter properties associated with pre-reading skills in 6-year-old children born preterm and at term.

Dodson Cory K CK Travis Katherine E KE Borchers Lauren R LR Marchman Virginia A VA Ben-Shachar Michal M Feldman Heidi M HM

Developmental medicine and child neurology 20180503 7

<h4>Aim</h4>To assess associations between white matter properties and pre-reading skills (phonological awareness and receptive and expressive language) in children born preterm and at term at the onset of reading acquisition.<h4>Method</h4>Six-year-old children born preterm (n=36; gestational age 22-32wks) and at term (n=43) underwent diffusion magnetic resonance imaging and behavioural assessments. Tracts were selected a priori based on findings from a study of 6-year-old children born at term ...[more]

PMID: 29722009

Similar Datasets

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:BackgroundCognitive outcomes in preterm (PT) children have been associated with microstructural properties of white matter. PT children who experienced neonatal inflammatory conditions have poorer cognitive outcomes than those who did not. The goal of this study was to contrast white matter microstructure and cognitive outcomes after preterm birth in relation to the presence or absence of severe inflammatory conditions in the neonatal period.MethodsPT children (n = 35), born at gestational age 22-32 weeks, were classified as either PT+ (n = 12) based on a neonatal history of inflammatory conditions, including bronchopulmonary dysplasia, necrotizing enterocolitis or culture positive sepsis, or PT- (n = 23) based on the absence of the three inflammatory conditions. Full term (FT) children (n = 43) served as controls. Participants underwent diffusion MRI and cognitive testing (intelligence, reading, and executive function) at age 6 years. The corpus callosum was segmented into 7 regions using deterministic tractography and based on the cortical projection zones of the callosal fibers. Mean fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) were calculated for each segment. General linear models with planned contrasts assessed group differences in FA, MD and cognitive outcomes. Pearson correlations assessed associations of white matter metrics and cognitive outcome measures.ResultsFA was significantly lower and MD was significantly higher in PT+ compared to PT- or FT groups in multiple callosal segments, even after adjusting for gestational age. Executive function scores, but not intelligence or reading scores, were less favorable in PT+ than in PT- groups. Among the entire sample, occipital FA was significantly correlated with IQ (r = 0.25, p < 0.05), reading (r = 0.32, p < 0.01), and executive function (r = -0.28, p < 0.05) measures. Anterior frontal FA and superior parietal FA were significantly correlated with executive function (r = -0.25, r = 0.23, respectively, p < 0.05).ConclusionsWe observed differences in the white matter microstructure of the corpus callosum and in the cognitive skills of 6-year-old PT children based on their history of neonatal inflammation. Neonatal inflammation is one medical factor that may contribute to variation in long-term neurobiological and neuropsychological outcomes in PT samples.

Project description:IntroductionThe underlying microstructural properties of white matter differences in children born very preterm (<32 weeks gestational age) can be investigated in depth using multi-shell diffusion imaging. The present study compared white matter across the whole brain using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) metrics in children born very preterm and full-term children at six years of age. We also investigated associations between white matter microstructure with early brain injury and developmental outcomes.MethodMulti-shell diffusion imaging, T1-weighted anatomical MR images and developmental assessments were acquired in 23 children born very preterm (16 males; mean scan age: 6.57 ± 0.34 years) and 24 full-term controls (10 males, mean scan age: 6.62 ± 0.37 years). DTI metrics were obtained and neurite orientation dispersion index (ODI) and density index (NDI) were estimated using the NODDI diffusion model. FSL's tract-based spatial statistics were performed on traditional DTI metrics and NODDI metrics. Voxel-wise comparisons were performed to test between-group differences and within-group associations with developmental outcomes (intelligence and visual motor abilities) as well as early white matter injury and germinal matrix/intraventricular haemorrhage (GMH/IVH).ResultsIn comparison to term-born children, the children born very preterm exhibited lower fractional anisotropy (FA) across many white matter regions as well as higher mean diffusivity (MD), radial diffusivity (RD), and ODI. Within-group analyses of the children born very preterm revealed associations between higher FA and NDI with higher IQ and VMI. Lower ODI was found within the corona radiata in those with a history of white matter injury. Within the full-term group, associations were found between higher NDI and ODI with lower IQ.ConclusionChildren born very preterm exhibit lower FA and higher ODI than full-term children. NODDI metrics provide more biologically specific information beyond DTI metrics as well as additional information of the impact of prematurity and white matter microstructure on cognitive outcomes at six years of age.

Project description:Children born preterm (PT) are at risk for white matter injuries based on complications of prematurity. They learn to read but on average perform below peers born full term (FT). Studies have yet to establish whether properties of white matter pathways at the onset of learning to read are associated with individual variation later in reading development in PT children. Here, we asked whether fractional anisotropy (FA) at age 6 years is associated with reading outcome at age 8 years in PT children in the same pathways as previously demonstrated in a sample of FT children. PT (n = 34, mean gestational age = 29.5 weeks) and FT children (n = 37) completed diffusion MRI and standardized measures of non-verbal IQ, language, and phonological awareness at age 6 years. Reading skills were assessed at age 8 years. Mean tract-FA was extracted from pathways that predicted reading outcome in children born FT: left arcuate fasciculus (Arc), bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), and left inferior cerebellar peduncle (ICP). We explored associations in additional pathways in the PT children: bilateral inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, and uncinate fasciculus. Linear regression models examined whether the prediction of reading outcome at age 8 years based on mean tract-FA at age 6 years was moderated by birth group. Children born PT and FT did not differ significantly in tract-FA at age 6 years or in reading at age 8 years. Sex, socioeconomic status, and non-verbal IQ at age 6 years were associated with reading outcome and were included as covariates in all models. Birth group status significantly moderated associations between reading outcome and mean tract-FA only in the left Arc, right SLF, and left ICP, before and after consideration of pre-literacy skills. Microstructural properties of these cerebral and cerebellar pathways predicted later reading outcome in FT but not in PT children. Children born PT may rely on alternative pathways to achieve fluent reading. These findings have implications for plasticity of neural organization after early white matter injury.

Dataset Information

White matter properties associated with pre-reading skills in 6-year-old children born preterm and at term.

Publications

White matter properties associated with pre-reading skills in 6-year-old children born preterm and at term.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets