Motor fMRI and cortical grey matter volume in adults born very preterm

E J Lawrence; S Froudist-Walsh; R Neilan; K W Nam; V Giampietro; P McGuire; R M Murray; C Nosarti

doi:10.1016/j.dcn.2014.06.002

Motor fMRI and cortical grey matter volume in adults born very preterm

Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2014 Oct:10:1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2014.06.002. Epub 2014 Jun 17.

Authors

E J Lawrence¹, S Froudist-Walsh², R Neilan³, K W Nam⁴, V Giampietro⁵, P McGuire⁶, R M Murray⁷, C Nosarti⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King's Health Partners, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King's Health Partners, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King's Health Partners, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁴ Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King's Health Partners, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, King's Health Partners, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁶ Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King's Health Partners, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁷ Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King's Health Partners, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁸ Department of Psychosis Studies, Institute of Psychiatry, King's Health Partners, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London SE5 8AF, UK; Centre for the Developing Brain, King's Health Partners, King's College London, First Floor, South Wing, St Thomas' Hospital, London SE1 7EH, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].

Abstract

The primary aim of this study was to investigate the functional neuroanatomy of motor planning, initiation and execution in a cohort of young adults (mean age 20 years) who were born very preterm (VPT; <33 weeks of gestation), as these individuals are at increased risk of experiencing neuromotor difficulties compared to controls. A cued motor task was presented to 20 right-handed VPT individuals and 20 controls within a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm. Whole-brain grey matter volume was also quantified and associations with functional data were examined. Despite comparable task performance, fMRI results showed that the VPT group displayed greater brain activation compared to controls in a region comprising the right cerebellum and the lingual, parahippocampal and middle temporal gyri. The VPT group also displayed decreased grey matter volume in the right superior frontal/premotor cortex and left middle temporal gyri. Grey matter volume in the premotor and middle temporal clusters was significantly negatively correlated with BOLD activation in the cerebellum. Overall, these data suggest that preterm birth is associated with functional neuronal differences that persist into adulthood, which are likely to reflect neural reorganisation following early brain injury.

Keywords: Adult; Cognitive; Motor; Neurodevelopment; Preterm; fMRI.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Brain Mapping
Case-Control Studies
Cerebellum / physiology
Cognition / physiology
Female
Gestational Age*
Gray Matter / anatomy & histology*
Gray Matter / physiology*
Humans
Infant, Extremely Premature / physiology*
Infant, Extremely Premature / psychology
Intelligence
Intelligence Tests
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Motor Cortex / anatomy & histology*
Motor Cortex / physiology*
Motor Skills / physiology*
Pregnancy
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
Temporal Lobe / physiology
Young Adult