MD/MSc Student University of Calgary Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Background: Preterm birth ( < 37 weeks' gestation) is associated with an increased risk for neonatal brain injury and neurodevelopmental abnormalities in childhood. Infants born moderate to late preterm (MLPT; 32-36 weeks' gestation) account for 80% of all preterm births and often require admission to neonatal intensive care units. Despite their increased risk for neurodevelopmental problems, MLPT infants are not routinely followed by developmental specialists like very preterm infants. Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) can provide valuable insight into the functional connectivity of the developing MLPT infant brain and its relationship with clinical and behavioural outcomes, which is currently underexplored. Objective: Our objectives are to investigate resting state functional connectivity in a cohort of MLPT infants and its relationship with neonatal outcomes. Design/Methods: This study is part of a prospective cohort study evaluating neurodevelopment in MLPT infants using MRI (Brain Imaging in MLPT Infants (BIMP)). Gestational age at birth, birth weight, respiratory distress, feeding, and infection data were collected. T2-weighted and rs-fMRI scans were performed around term-equivalent age (mean postmenstrual age at scan = 42 +/- 1.5 weeks) in 120 MLPT infants (63 females; mean age at birth = 34 +/- 1.1 weeks). Optimization of a neonatal fMRI preprocessing pipeline for use with our data is ongoing (NeoRS; Enguix et al., 2022). The pipeline uses 31 seed regions of 7 resting state networks for seed-based correlation analysis and evaluates functional connectivity with seed-to-seed analysis. Accounting for age at MRI, we will study early networks such as the motor network and relate functional connectivity measures to neonatal outcome data. Understanding connectivity of the MLPT infant brain and associated outcomes may inform support of newborns and families during development. Image processing and statistical analysis will be completed by December 2023 and February 2024, respectively. The University of Calgary Research Ethics Board approved this study.
