| Authors | Myers, E.H., Hampson, M., Vohr, B., Lacadie, C., Frost, S.J., Pugh, K.R., Katz, K.H., Schneider, K.C., Makuch, R.W., Constable, R.T., Ment, L.R, |
| Abstract | Prematurely born children are at increased risk for language deficits at school age and beyond, but the
neurobiological basis of these findings remains poorly understood. Thirty-one PT adolescents (600–1250 g
birth weight) and 36 T controls were evaluated using an fMRI passive language task and neurodevelopmental
assessments including: the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-III (WISC-III), the Peabody
Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R), the Comprehensive Test of Phonological Processing (CTOPP) and
the Test of Word Reading Efficiency (TOWRE) at 16 years of age. Neural activity was assessed for language
processing and the data were evaluated for connectivity and correlations to cognitive outcomes. PT subjects
scored significantly lower on all components of the WISC-III (pb0.05) compared to term subjects, but there
was no significant difference in PPVT-R scores between the groups. Functional connectivity (fcMRI) between
Wernicke's area (left BA 22) and the right supramarginal gyrus (BA 40) was increased in preterm subjects
relative to term controls (p=0.03), and the strength of this connection was inversely related to performance
on both the PPVT-R (R2=0.553, p=0.002), and the verbal comprehension index (R2=0.439, p=0.019).
Preterm adolescents engage a dorsal right hemisphere region for language at age 16 years. Those with the
greatest cognitive deficits demonstrate increasing reliance on this alternate pathway. |