Specific language and reading skills in school-aged children and adolescents are associated with prematurity after controlling for IQ

Characterization of language abilities and semantic networks in very preterm children at school-age

It has been widely assessed that very preterm children (<32 weeks gestational age) present language and memory impairments compared with full-term children. However, differences in their underlying semantic memory structure have not been studied yet. Nevertheless, the way concepts are learned and organized across development relates to children's capacities in retrieving and using information later. Therefore, the semantic memory organization could underlie several cognitive deficits existing in very preterm children. Computational mathematical models offer the possibility to characterize semantic networks through three coefficients calculated on spoken language: average shortest path length (i.e., distance between concepts), clustering (i.e., local interconnectivity), and modularity (i.e., compartmentalization into small sub-networks). Here we assessed these coefficients in 38 very preterm schoolchildren (aged 8-10 years) compared with 38 full-term schoolchildren (aged 7-10 years) based on a verbal fluency task. Using semantic network analysis, very preterm children showed a longer distance between concepts and a lower interconnectivity at a local level than full-term children. In addition, we found a trend for a higher modularity at a global in very preterm children compared with full-term children. These findings provide preliminary evidence that very preterm children demonstrate subtle impairments in the organization of their semantic network, encouraging the adaptation of the support and education they receive.

Predictors of language and reading outcomes in 12-year-old children born very preterm

AIM

To investigate predictors of language and reading outcomes in 12-year-old Swedish children born very preterm (<32 gestational weeks) in 2004-2007.

METHOD

Children born very preterm (n = 78, 43 girls), and term-born controls (n = 50, 32 girls), were examined on verbal IQ, semantic and phonemic fluency, sentence recall, reading fluency, word and phonological decoding at 12 years of age. The results were related to neonatal characteristics, language development, measured with Bayley-III, at 2.5 years corrected age, and concurrent non-verbal IQ.

RESULTS

Preterm children showed language and reading difficulties that were not completely accounted for by level of concurrent non-verbal IQ. Extremely preterm born children (<28 gestational weeks) demonstrated specific linguistic weaknesses. Administration of antenatal steroids, retinopathy of prematurity and persistent ductus arteriosus explained unique variance in language and reading outcomes. Language assessments at 2.5 years had low predictive value for language and reading outcomes at age 12.

CONCLUSION

Language and reading difficulties in 12-year-old children born preterm were not fully explained by concurrent non-verbal IQ, and were not reliably predicted by language assessments at 2.5 years. Renewed language assessments at school age are warranted for identifying children with persisting linguistic difficulties.

Language and Ageing in Adults With Down Syndrome: An Analysis of Receptive and Expressive Language Measures

BACKGROUND

The evidence on the effect of age on the receptive and expressive language skills of individuals with Down syndrome is inconclusive. Recent research highlights the relevance of having tools to detect age-related changes in language skills.

METHOD

Data were collected on 45 adults with Down syndrome. All were assessed with the Peabody test, token test, verbal fluency tasks and an expressive language sample.

RESULTS

Scores on token and Peabody showed a decline in older adults, whereas no significant effect of age was observed for expressive language measures. A quadratic regression confirmed the association between age and receptive language measures. Highly significant associations were also found between the performance on receptive and expressive language measures.

CONCLUSIONS

Receptive language skills are more age-sensitive than the expressive language skills. In addition to expressive language skills, receptive language skills should be measured because they show age associated changes not observed in expressive language.

Early language processing efficiency and pre-literacy outcomes in children born full term and preterm

Language processing efficiency-that is, the skill at processing language in real time-assessed in toddlerhood is associated with later language outcomes in children born full term (FT) and preterm (PT) during school age. No studies to date have assessed patterns of relations between early language processing efficiency and pre-literacy skills, such as print knowledge and phonological awareness, and whether relations are similar in FT and PT children. In this study, participants (N = 94, 49 FT and 45PT) were assessed in the looking-while-listening (LWL) task at 18 months of age (corrected for degree of prematurity), deriving measures of processing speed and accuracy. At 4½ years of age, children were assessed on standardized tests of print knowledge, phonological awareness, and expressive language. Processing speed and accuracy predicted both pre-literacy outcomes (r2 change = 7.8%-19.5%, p < .01); birth group did not moderate these effects. Relations were significantly reduced when controlling for expressive language. Thus, early language processing efficiency supports later expressive language abilities, which in turn supports developing pre-literacy skills. Processing speed and phonological awareness were also directly related, indicating an independent role for processing speed in literacy development. Mediation effects were not moderated by birth group, suggesting a similar developmental pathway in FT and PT children.

Does the Degree of Prematurity Relate to the Bayley-4 Scores Earned by Matched Samples of Infants and Toddlers across the Cognitive, Language, and Motor Domains?

The literature on children born prematurely has consistently shown that full-term babies outperform preterm babies by about 12 IQ points, even when tested as adolescents, and this advantage for full-term infants extends to the language and motor domains as well. The results of comprehensive meta-analyses suggest that the degree of prematurity greatly influences later test performance, but these inferences are based on data from an array of separate studies with no control of potential confounding variables such as age. This study analyzed Bayley-4 data for 66 extremely premature infants and toddlers (<32 weeks), 70 moderately premature children (32-36 weeks), and 133 full-term children. All groups were carefully matched on key background variables by the test publisher during the standardization of the Bayley-4. This investigation analyzed data on the five subtests: cognitive, expressive communication, receptive communication, fine motor, and gross motor. A multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) assessed for group mean differences across the three subsamples, while controlling for the children's age. Extremely premature children scored significantly lower than moderately premature children on all subtests, and both preterm groups were significantly outscored by the full-term sample across all domains. In each set of comparisons, the cognitive and motor subtests yielded the largest differences, whereas language development, both expressive and receptive, appeared the least impacted by prematurity. A follow-up MANOVA was conducted to examine full-term versus preterm discrepancies on the five subtests for infants (2-17 months) vs. toddlers (18-42 months). For that analysis, the two preterm groups were combined into a single preterm sample, and a significant interaction between the age level and group (full-term vs. preterm) was found. Premature infants scored lower than premature toddlers on receptive communication, fine motor, and cognitive. Neither expressive communication nor gross motor produced significant discrepancies between age groups The findings of this study enrich the preterm literature on the degree of prematurity; the age-based interactions have implications for which abilities are most likely to improve as infants grow into toddlerhood.

Assessment of Mastery Motivation and Neurodevelopment of Young Children at High Risk for Developmental Delays

Young children's mastery motivation and neurodevelopmental evaluation can contribute to overall early assessment for early intervention evaluation. At present, children born preterm (<37 weeks gestation) and with a low birth weight (LBW; <2500 g) are at increased risk of experiencing developmental delays and more nuanced cognitive and language challenges. The main objective of this exploratory study was to examine the connection between preterm children's mastery motivation and their neurodevelopment, as well as to determine whether assessing mastery motivation can enhance assessment practices for early intervention (EI) programs. Parents of children born preterm completed the revised Dimensions of Mastery Motivation Questionnaire (DMQ18). Neurodevelopment was measured on the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (BSID-III). Results revealed significant correlations between DMQ18 and BSID-III measures. Multivariate analysis showed that infants and toddlers born with a very low birth weight (VLBW; <1500 g) scored significantly lower on the infant DMQ18 and the BSID-III measures. Regression analyses revealed that birth weight and home environment were significant predictors of the children's eligibility for EI programs. Infants' social persistence with other children, gross motor persistence, and mastery pleasure, as well as toddlers' objective cognitive persistence, social persistence with adults, gross motor persistence, mastery pleasure, and negative reaction to frustration, were important markers for evidenced-based practices in EI programs. This study demonstrates the utility of the DMQ18 as a contributory assessment measure and the importance of birth weight and home environment in predicting EI enrollment.

Associations between physical activity and proactive control and the modulating role of working memory

Accumulating evidence indicates positive associations between physical activity (PA) and cognitive control. Proactive control, the ability to maintain goal-relevant information in preparation of upcoming task demands, is a critical component of cognitive control. However, little research has examined the association between PA and proactive control. To address this issue, a total of 132 university students were recruited and divided into two groups based on reported regular PA during past week. All participants completed two common cognitive control tasks: the AX Continuous Performance Task (AX-CPT) and the Cued Task-Switching Paradigm (CTS). In comparison with the low PA group, the high PA group showed greater proactive control efficiency on both tasks. Moreover, proactive control indices significantly correlated between the two tasks for the high but not for the low PA group. Further, working memory significantly modulated the association between PA and proactive control efficiency of CTS. Although the present cross-section design does not allow us to test the causal relationship between PA and proactive control, these findings may have important implications for developing effective intervention strategies which aim to promote proactive control through increasing PA or to promote PA through increasing proactive control. Moreover, individual differences in working memory are important to consider when we aim to design such interventions.

La habilidad lingüística en prematuros extremos en edad escolar

En España, el número de nacimientos prematuros es de 30.000, siendo una de las principales causas de mortalidad perinatal. En los últimos años, gracias a los avances médicos, la tasa de supervivencia de esta población se ha visto incrementada, lo cual ha evidenciado la aparición de nuevas morbilidades y comorbilidades que pueden interferir en su proceso de aprendizaje. Este estudio, de carácter cualitativo y longitudinal, cuenta con un muestreo no probabilístico por conveniencia. Su objeto es analizar la habilidad lingüística de cuatro menores grandes prematuros, con una edad gestacional al nacimiento igual o inferior a las 28 semanas, que actualmente cursan 4º de Educación Primaria, para detectar posibles dificultades en la adquisición y en el uso del lenguaje. Se les administró la Batería del Lenguaje Objetiva y Criterial Revisado (BLOC-SR) a la edad cronológica de 8 y 10 años. Los resultados sugieren que existen dificultades en la adquisición de los componentes del lenguaje: en el morfológico, por ejemplo, aparece en el uso de las formas verbales, en los sustantivos derivados, etc.; en el sintáctico, en las oraciones subordinadas de causa y condición, etc.; en el semántico se evidencian en los locativos, etc., y en el pragmático, en la realización de preguntas. A modo de conclusión, los menores prematuros extremos, debido a su condición de vulnerabilidad biológica al quedar interrumpida la maduración cerebral por su nacimiento temprano, necesitan potenciar las destrezas lingüísticas, entre las que destaca la conciencia semántica, siendo necesario diseñar propuestas de intervención para el ámbito escolar.

Language Impairment in Children of Mothers with Gestational Diabetes, Preeclampsia, and Preterm Delivery: Current Hypothesis and Potential Underlying Mechanisms : Language Impartment and Pregnancy Complications

Many conditions may impair or delay language development, including socioeconomic status, parent's education, or intrauterine environment. Accordingly, increasing evidence has described that pregnancy complications, including gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), preeclampsia, and preterm delivery, are associated with the offspring's impaired neurodevelopment. Since language is one of the high brain functions, alterations in this function are another sign of neurodevelopment impairment. How these maternal conditions may generate language impairment has yet to be entirely understood. However, since language development requires adequate structural formation and function/connectivity of the brain, these processes must be affected by alterations in maternal conditions. However, the underlying mechanisms of these structural alterations are largely unknown. This manuscript critically analyzes the literature focused on the risk of developing language impairment in children of mothers with GDM, preeclampsia, and preterm delivery. Furthermore, we highlight potential underlying molecular mechanisms associated with these alterations, such as neuroinflammatory and metabolic and cerebrovascular alterations.

Lower gestational age is associated with lower cortical volume and cognitive and educational performance in adolescence

BACKGROUND

Gestational age (GA) is associated with later cognition and behavior. However, it is unclear how specific cognitive domains and brain structural development varies with the stepwise change of gestational duration.

METHODS

This large-scale longitudinal cohort study analyzed 11,878 early adolescents' brain volume maps at 9-10 years (baseline) and 5685 at 11-12 years (a 2-year follow-up) from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. According to gestational age, adolescents were divided into five categorical groups: ≤ 33 weeks, 34-35 weeks, 36 weeks, 37-39 weeks, and ≥ 40 weeks. The NIH Toolbox was used to estimate neurocognitive performance, including crystallized and fluid intelligence, which was measured for 11,878 adolescents at baseline with crystallized intelligence and relevant subscales obtained at 2-year follow-up (with participant numbers ranging from 6185 to 6310 depending on the cognitive domain). An additional large population-based cohort of 618,070 middle adolescents at ninth-grade (15-16 years) from the Danish national register was utilized to validate the association between gestational age and academic achievements. A linear mixed model was used to examine the group differences between gestational age and neurocognitive performance, school achievements, and grey matter volume. A mediation analysis was performed to examine whether brain structural volumes mediated the association between GA and neurocognition, followed with a longitudinal analysis to track the changes.

RESULTS

Significant group differences were found in all neurocognitive scores, school achievements, and twenty-five cortical regional volumes (P < 0.05, Bonferroni corrected). Specifically, lower gestational ages were associated with graded lower cognition and school achievements and with smaller brain volumes of the fronto-parieto-temporal, fusiform, cingulate, insula, postcentral, hippocampal, thalamic, and pallidal regions. These lower brain volumes mediated the association between gestational age and cognitive function (P = 1 × 10^-8, β = 0.017, 95% CI: 0.007-0.028). Longitudinal analysis showed that compared to full term adolescents, preterm adolescents still had smaller brain volumes and crystallized intelligence scores at 11-12 years.

CONCLUSIONS

These results emphasize the relationships between gestational age at birth and adolescents' lower brain volume, and lower cognitive and educational performance, measured many years later when 9-10 and 11-12 years old. The study indicates the importance of early screening and close follow-up for neurocognitive and behavioral development for children and adolescents born with gestational ages that are even a little lower than full term.

Is association of preterm birth with cognitive-neurophysiological impairments and ADHD symptoms consistent with a causal inference or due to familial confounds?

BACKGROUND

Preterm birth is associated with an increased risk for cognitive-neurophysiological impairments and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Whether the associations are due to the preterm birth insult per se, or due to other risk factors that characterise families with preterm-born children, is largely unknown.

METHODS

We employed a within-sibling comparison design, using cognitive-performance and event-related potential (ERP) measures from 104 preterm-born adolescents and 104 of their term-born siblings. Analyses focused on ADHD symptoms and cognitive and ERP measures from a cued continuous performance test, an arrow flanker task and a reaction time task.

RESULTS

Within-sibling analyses showed that preterm birth was significantly associated with increased ADHD symptoms (β = 0.32, p = 0.01, 95% CI 0.05 to 0.58) and specific cognitive-ERP impairments, such as IQ (β = -0.20, p = 0.02, 95% CI -0.40 to -0.01), preparation-vigilance measures and measures of error processing (ranging from β = 0.71, -0.35). There was a negligible within-sibling association between preterm birth with executive control measures of inhibition (NoGo-P3, β = -0.07, p = 0.45, 95% CI -0.33 to 0.15) or verbal working memory (digit span backward, β = -0.05, p = 0.63, 95% CI -0.30 to 0.18).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that the relationship between preterm birth with ADHD symptoms and specific cognitive-neurophysiological impairments (IQ, preparation-vigilance and error processing) is independent of family-level risk and consistent with a causal inference. In contrast, our results suggest that previously observed associations between preterm birth with executive control processes of inhibition and working memory are instead linked to background characteristics of families with a preterm-born child rather than preterm birth insult per se. These findings suggest that interventions need to target both preterm-birth specific and family-level risk factors.

Language functions deserve more attention in follow-up of children born very preterm

BACKGROUND

Language is a complex neurodevelopmental phenomenon. Approximately 45% of children born very preterm (VP) show mild-to-severe language problems throughout childhood. Nevertheless, in most hospitals in Europe language functions are not routinely assessed at follow-up.

OBJECTIVE

To give clear indications for extensive language assessment in school-aged children born VP, based on routinely assessed intelligence and behavioral problems.

METHOD

Language functions of 63 10-year-old children born VP (<32 weeks' gestation) without major handicaps were compared to their intellectual and executive functions and behavioral problems. Using multiple linear regression analyses, the predictive value of perinatal factors and the association with neurodevelopmental factors of low language were measured.

RESULTS

The mean language score was significantly lower than the verbal intelligent quotient (VIQ; mean difference = 6.4, p < .001, d=.48) and the mean vocabulary knowledge (mean difference = 9.3, p < .001, d=.70). Besides, VIQ (β = .649, p = .001) and performance IQ (PIQ; β = .260, p = .035) were significantly associated with language scores. Significant predictors of language scores were number of days of assisted ventilation (β = -.592, p = .015) and mother's vocabulary knowledge (β =.473, p = .014), rather than mother's educational level (β =.139, p = .956).

CONCLUSIONS

Children born VP had language problems that were not expected from their significantly higher VIQ and vocabulary knowledge. Clinicians assessing these children should be aware of possible language problems, which cannot be detected with a simple vocabulary task. Our findings provide evidence of the need for adequate language assessments by a speech-language pathologist in children born VP, especially in those with VIQ scores in the low average range.

Academic Outcomes of School-Aged Children Born Preterm: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

IMPORTANCE

Children born preterm are at an elevated risk of academic underachievement. However, the extent to which performance across domain-specific subskills in reading and mathematics is associated with preterm birth remains unclear.

OBJECTIVE

To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of academic outcomes of school-aged children born preterm, compared with children born at term, appraising evidence for higher- and lower-order subskills in reading and mathematics.

DATA SOURCES

PubMed/MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature electronic databases from January 1, 1980, to July 30, 2018, were searched for population, exposure, and outcome terms such as child (population), preterm birth (exposure), and education* (outcome).

STUDY SELECTION

Peer-reviewed English-language publications that included preterm-born children and a comparison group of term-born children aged 5 to 18 years and born during or after 1980 and that reported outcomes on standardized assessments from cohort or cross-sectional studies were screened. Of the 9833 articles screened, 33 unique studies met the inclusion criteria.

DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS

Data were analyzed from August 1 to September 29, 2018. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. Two reviewers independently screened the databases and extracted sample characteristics and outcomes scores. Pooled mean differences (MDs) were analyzed using random-effects models.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Performance on standardized assessment of higher-order subskills of reading comprehension and applied mathematics problems; lower-order reading subskills of decoding, pseudoword decoding, and word identification; and lower-order mathematics subskills of knowledge, calculation, and fluency.

RESULTS

Outcomes data were extracted for 4006 preterm and 3317 term-born children, totaling 7323 participants from 33 unique studies. Relative to children born at term, children born preterm scored significantly lower in reading comprehension (mean difference [MD], -7.96; 95% CI, -12.15 to -3.76; I2 = 81%) and applied mathematical problems (MD, -11.41; 95% CI, -17.57 to -5.26; I2 = 91%) assessments. Across the assessments of lower-order skills, children born preterm scored significantly lower than their term-born peers in calculation (MD, -10.57; 95% CI, -15.62 to -5.52; I2 = 92%), decoding (MD, -10.18; 95% CI, -16.83 to -3.53; I2 = 71%), mathematical knowledge (MD, -9.88; 95% CI, -11.68 to -8.08; I2 = 62%), word identification (MD, -7.44; 95% CI, -9.08 to -5.80; I2 = 69%), and mathematical fluency (MD, -6.89; 95% CI, -13.54 to -0.23; I2 = 72%). The associations remained unchanged after sensitivity analyses for reducing heterogeneity.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

These findings provide evidence that preterm birth is associated with academic underperformance in aggregate measures of reading and mathematics, as well as a variety of related subskills.

Longitudinal Relationships Between Reading Abilities, Phonological Awareness, Language Abilities and Executive Functions: Comparison of Low Risk Preterm and Full-Term Children

Different investigations have found that very or extremely (high risk) preterm children show global or specific difficulties in phonological awareness (PA) and reading abilities. Do low risk preterm children, however, exhibit this pattern? Phonological awareness has been considered an important predictor of literacy. Certain executive functions (EFs), and language abilities in turn, have been found to predict PA. The aims of this study are (1) to compare reading abilities of low risk preterm children of different gestational age (GA) groups to those of full-term children, (2) to compare the performance of low risk preterm children of different GA groups to that of full-term children in different EFs, language measures and PA, and (3) to perform a path analysis in order to test a longitudinal model of the relationships between EFs, language abilities, PA and reading. The participants were 108 low risk 4- year-old preterm children, classified into 3 groups of different GAs, and 34 full-term children. The children’s EFs (rapid automatized naming task (RAN), working memory, and inhibition) were assessed at 4 and 5 years of age. Vocabulary comprehension, morphosyntactic production and grammar reception were assessed when the children were 5 years of age, as well as phonemic awareness and syllabic awareness. Finally, reading abilities were assessed when the children were 9 years old. No significant difference between gestational age groups was found on any of the measures taken on EFs, language abilities, phonological awareness, or reading abilities. The path analysis model demonstrates the direct effect of working memory, certain linguistic skills governed by rules (grammar, morphology) and phonological awareness on reading abilities at 9 years of age. The model also shows the mediating role that PA has on the relationship between EFs and language abilities with reading abilities.

Associations of Socioeconomic Deprivation and Preterm Birth With Speech, Language, and Communication Concerns Among Children Aged 27 to 30 Months

IMPORTANCE

Successful acquisition of language is foundational for health and well-being across the life course and is patterned by medical and social determinants that operate in early life.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the associations of neighborhood disadvantage, gestational age, and English as first language with speech, language, and communication concerns among children aged 27 to 30 months.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This cohort study used birth data from the National Health Service maternity electronic medical record linked to the Child Health Surveillance Programme for preschool children. The cohort included 28 634 children in the United Kingdom (NHS Lothian, Scotland) born between January 2011 and December 2014 who were eligible for a health review at age 27 to 30 months between April 2013 and April 2016. Data analysis was conducted between January 2018 and February 2019.

EXPOSURES

The associations of neighborhood deprivation (using the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2016 quintiles), gestational age, and whether English was the first language spoken in the home with preschool language function were investigated using mutually adjusted logistic regression models.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Speech, language, and communication (SLC) concern ascertained at age 27 to 30 months.

RESULTS

Records of 28 634 children (14 695 [51.3%] boys) with a mean (SD) age of 27.7 (2.2) months were matched. After excluding records with missing data, there were 26 341 records. The prevalence of SLC concern was 13.0% (3501 of 26 963 children with SLC data). In fully adjusted analyses, each 1-week increase in gestational age from 23 to 36 weeks was associated with an 8.8% decrease in the odds of a child having an SLC concern reported at 27 months (odds ratio, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.90-0.93). The odds of a child for whom English is not the first language of having SLC concern at age 27 to 30 months were 2.1-fold higher than those for a child whose first language is English (OR, 2.09; 95% CI, 1.66-2.64). The odds ratio for having an SLC concern among children living in the most deprived neighborhoods, compared with the least deprived neighborhoods, was 3.15 (95% CI, 2.79-3.56). The estimated probabilities for preterm children having an SLC concern were highest for those living in the most deprived areas.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

This study found that SLC concerns at age 27 to 30 months are common and independently associated with increasing levels of neighborhood deprivation and lower gestational age. Policies that reduce childhood deprivation could be associated with improved preschool language ability and potentially avoid propagation of disadvantage across the life course, including for children born preterm.

White Matter Plasticity in Reading-Related Pathways Differs in Children Born Preterm and at Term: A Longitudinal Analysis

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.

A Comparison of Developmental Outcomes of Adolescent Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Survivors Born with a Congenital Heart Defect or Born Preterm

OBJECTIVE

To compare cognitive, motor, behavioral, and functional outcomes of adolescents born with a congenital heart defect (CHD) and adolescents born preterm.

STUDY DESIGN

Adolescents (11-19 years old) born with a CHD requiring open-heart surgery during infancy (n = 80) or born preterm ≤29 weeks of gestational age (n = 128) between 1991 and 1999 underwent a cross-sectional evaluation of cognitive (Leiter International Performance Scale-Revised), motor (Movement Assessment Battery for Children-II), behavioral (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire), and functional (Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale-II) outcomes. Independent samples t tests and Pearson χ² or Fisher exact tests were used to compare mean scores and proportions of impairment, respectively, between groups.

RESULTS

Adolescents born with a CHD and adolescents born preterm had similar cognitive, motor, behavioral, and functional outcomes. Cognitive deficits were detected in 14.3% of adolescents born with a CHD and 11.8% of adolescents born preterm. Motor difficulties were detected in 43.5% of adolescents born with a CHD and 50% of adolescents born preterm. Behavioral problems were found in 23.7% of adolescents in the CHD group and 22.9% in the preterm group. Functional limitations were detected in 12% of adolescents born with a CHD and 7.3% of adolescents born preterm.

CONCLUSIONS

Adolescents born with a CHD or born preterm have similar profiles of developmental deficits. These findings highlight the importance of providing long-term surveillance to both populations and guide the provision of appropriate educational and rehabilitation services to better ameliorate long-term developmental difficulties.

Predicting text reading skills at age 8 years in children born preterm and at term

BACKGROUND

Children born preterm are at risk for developing reading difficulties and for decrements in other cognitive skills compared to children born at term.

AIMS

To assess how domains of function, often negatively impacted by preterm birth, predict reading development in children born preterm and at term.

STUDY DESIGN

Longitudinal descriptive cohort study.

SUBJECTS

Preterm (n = 48; gestational age 22-32 weeks, 30 males) and term (n = 41, 18 males) participants were assessed at age 6 years on a battery of verbal and non-verbal cognitive skills and reassessed at age 8 using the Gray Oral Reading Tests-5. Linear regressions assessed the contributions of phonological awareness, language, executive function, and non-verbal IQ at age 6 to reading outcome at age 8.

RESULTS

Children born preterm had lower scores than children born at term on all measures (Cohen's d from 0.46 to 1.08, all p < .05). Phonological awareness and language abilities predicted reading in both groups (accounting for 19.9% and 25.0% of variance, respectively, p < .001). Birth group did not moderate the association. By contrast, the association between executive function and non-verbal intelligence and reading outcome was moderated by birth group (interaction accounted for 3.9-6.7% of variance, respectively, p < .05). Positive predictions to reading from executive function and non-verbal IQ were found only in children born preterm.

CONCLUSIONS

Non-verbal cognitive skills improved the prediction of reading outcome only in the preterm group, suggesting that reading decrements represent a component of global deficits. These findings have implications for evaluation of children born preterm at school entry and treatment of reading difficulties.

The influence of prematurity on the development of phonological skills

ABSTRACT Purpose: to check the use of phonological processes in preterm infants. Methods: phonological evaluation was performed through the ABFW Child Language Test in 40 children, aged two to four years, i.e., 20 preterm and 20 full-term children, matched according to age, gender and socioeconomic level. Preterm children were evaluated at the State Center for Prevention and Rehabilitation of People with Disabilities - CEPRED; full-term children were selected and evaluated in a municipal nursery in the city of Salvador, BA, Brazil. The pertinent statistical tests were applied adopting the level of significance lower than 0.05%. Results: in the phonology test, the number of productive phonological processes not expected for the chronological age was statistically significant in the preterm group, especially syllable reduction, consonantal harmony, velar backing and liquid reduction. The high prevalence of cluster reduction and final consonant deletion, though still compatible with chronological age, shows the need to follow up the language acquisition of these children, after the age of four. Conclusion: the results evidenced the difficulty found by preterm infants in the development of phonological skills, emphasizing the importance of early diagnosis and speech-language monitoring in language acquisition.

Effect of reading to preterm infants on measures of cardiorespiratory stability in the neonatal intensive care unit

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the impact of parental bedside reading (PR) on cardio-respiratory (CR) stability of preterm infants.

METHODS/STUDY DESIGN

Prospective examination of the impact of PR on CR stability in preterm NICU infants. CR data from 3 time points: pre-reading (3 and 1 h before reading), during PR, and post-reading (1 h after reading) were compared.

RESULTS

Eighteen infants born at 23-31wks gestation, and 8 to 56 days old, were enrolled. Episodes of oxygen desaturation to <85% were fewer during PR as compared to the pre-reading periods and were fewer with live and maternal PR.

CONCLUSION

Preterm infants showed fewer desaturation events less than 85% during PR than prior to reading exposure. This effect persisted up to 1 h after reading exposure. Desaturation events were fewer with live and maternal PR. Voice exposure can be an important way for parents to participate in the care of their preterm infants.

Speed of Language Comprehension at 18 Months Old Predicts School-Relevant Outcomes at 54 Months Old in Children Born Preterm

OBJECTIVE

Identifying which preterm (PT) children are at increased risk of language and learning differences increases opportunities for participation in interventions that improve outcomes. Speed in spoken language comprehension at early stages of language development requires information processing skills that may form the foundation for later language and school-relevant skills. In children born full-term, speed of comprehending words in an eye-tracking task at 2 years old predicted language and nonverbal cognition at 8 years old. Here, we explore the extent to which speed of language comprehension at 1.5 years old predicts both verbal and nonverbal outcomes at 4.5 years old in children born PT.

METHOD

Participants were children born PT (n = 47; ≤32 weeks gestation). Children were tested in the "looking-while-listening" task at 18 months old, adjusted for prematurity, to generate a measure of speed of language comprehension. Parent report and direct assessments of language were also administered. Children were later retested on a test battery of school-relevant skills at 4.5 years old.

RESULTS

Speed of language comprehension at 18 months old predicted significant unique variance (12%-31%) in receptive vocabulary, global language abilities, and nonverbal intelligence quotient (IQ) at 4.5 years, controlling for socioeconomic status, gestational age, and medical complications of PT birth. Speed of language comprehension remained uniquely predictive (5%-12%) when also controlling for children's language skills at 18 months old.

CONCLUSION

Individual differences in speed of spoken language comprehension may serve as a marker for neuropsychological processes that are critical for the development of school-relevant linguistic skills and nonverbal IQ in children born PT.

The Relationship Between Motor Delays and Language Development in Very Low Birthweight Premature Children at 18 Months Corrected Age

PURPOSE

The aim of this study is to determine if there is a specific association between motor delays and receptive and expressive language function, respectively, in prematurely born children.

METHOD

Retrospective data review: 126 premature children ≤ 1,250-g birthweight from English-speaking families were evaluated on motor development (normal, mild delay, and moderate-severe delay) and the cognitive and language scales of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-Third Edition (Bayley, 2006) at 18 months corrected age. Cognitive scores were categorized as normal, suspect, and abnormal. Gender, demographic, and perinatal variables were recorded and analyzed with respect to motor category.

RESULTS

Lower birthweight, chronic need for oxygen, severe intraventricular hemorrhage, and intestinal infection/inflammation were related to poorer motor development. On receptive language, the normal motor group attained significantly higher scores than the moderate-severe motor group but did not differ significantly from the mild delay motor group. On expressive language, the normal motor group had significantly higher scores than both the mild and moderate-severe groups. Girls performed better than boys on receptive and expressive language, but there was no significant interaction between gender and motor category on any of the Bayley scores. Cognitive, but not motor, category significantly contributed to variance of receptive language scores; cognitive and motor category each independently contributed to the variance in expressive language.

CONCLUSION

Findings suggest that motor control areas of the brain may be implicated in expressive language development of premature children. Further research is needed to determine the underlying factors for the association between motor and expressive language function.

Neuroimaging of decoding and language comprehension in young very low birth weight (VLBW) adolescents: Indications for compensatory mechanisms

In preterm children with very low birth weight (VLBW ≤ 1500 g), reading problems are often observed. Reading comprehension is dependent on word decoding and language comprehension. We investigated neural activation–within brain regions important for reading–related to components of reading comprehension in young VLBW adolescents in direct comparison to normal birth weight (NBW) term-born peers, with the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We hypothesized that the decoding mechanisms will be affected by VLBW, and expect to see increased neural activity for VLBW which may be modulated by task performance and cognitive ability. The study investigated 13 (11 included in fMRI) young adolescents (ages 12 to 14 years) born preterm with VLBW and in 13 NBW controls (ages 12–14 years) for performance on the Block Design and Vocabulary subtests of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children; and for semantic, orthographic, and phonological processing during an fMRI paradigm. The VLBW group showed increased phonological activation in left inferior frontal gyrus, decreased orthographic activation in right supramarginal gyrus, and decreased semantic activation in left inferior frontal gyrus. Block Design was related to altered right-hemispheric activation, and VLBW showed lower WISC Block Design scores. Left angular gyrus showed activation increase specific for VLBW with high accuracy on the semantic test. Young VLBW adolescents showed no accuracy and reaction time performance differences on our fMRI language tasks, but they did exhibit altered neural activation during these tasks. This altered activation for VLBW was observed as increased activation during phonological decoding, and as mainly decreased activation during orthographic and semantic processing. Correlations of neural activation with accuracy on the semantic fMRI task and with decreased WISC Block Design performance were specific for the VLBW group. Together, results suggest compensatory mechanisms by recruiting additional brain regions upon altered neural development of decoding for VLBW.

Effects of prematurity on language acquisition and auditory maturation: a systematic review

Purpose

To verify which damages prematurity causes to hearing and language.

Research strategies

We used the decriptors language/linguagem, hearing/audição, prematurity/prematuridade in databases LILACS, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library and Scielo.

Selection criteria

randomized controlled trials, non-randomized intervention studies and descriptive studies (cross-sectional, cohort, case-control projects).

Data analysis

The articles were assessed independently by two authors according to the selection criteria. Twenty-six studies were selected, of which seven were published in Brazil and 19 in international literature.

Results

Nineteen studies comparing full-term and preterm infants. Two of the studies made comparisons between premature infants small for gestational age and appropriate for gestational age. In four studies, the sample consisted of children with extreme prematurity, while other studies have been conducted in children with severe and moderate prematurity. To assess hearing, these studies used otoacoustic emissions, brainstem evoked potentials, tympanometry, auditory steady-state response and visual reinforcement audiometry. For language assessment, most of the articles used the Bayley Scale of Infant and Toddler Development. Most studies reviewed observed that prematurity is directly or indirectly related to the acquisition of auditory and language abilities early in life.

Conclusion

Thus, it could be seen that prematurity, as well as aspects related to it (gestational age, low weight at birth and complications at birth), affect maturation of the central auditory pathway and may cause negative effects on language acquisition.

Adult-like processing of naturalistic sounds in auditory cortex by 3- and 9-month old infants

Functional neuroimaging has been used to show that the developing auditory cortex of very young human infants responds, in some way, to sound. However, impoverished stimuli and uncontrolled designs have made it difficult to attribute brain responses to specific auditory features, and thus made it difficult to assess the maturity of feature tuning in auditory cortex. To address this, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure the brain activity evoked by naturalistic sounds (a series of sung lullabies) in two groups of infants (3 and 9 months) and adults. We developed a novel analysis method - inter-subject regression (ISR) - to quantify the similarity of cortical responses between infants and adults, and to decompose components of the response due to different auditory features. We found that the temporal pattern of activity in infant auditory cortex shared similarity with adults. Some of this shared response could be attributed to simple acoustic features, such as frequency, pitch, envelope, but other parts were not, suggesting that even more complex adult-like features are represented in auditory cortex in early infancy.

Caregiver Talk and Medical Risk as Predictors of Language Outcomes in Full Term and Preterm Toddlers

This study examined associations between caregiver talk and language skills in full term (FT) and preterm (PT) children (n = 97). All-day recordings of caregiver-child interactions revealed striking similarities in amount of caregiver talk heard by FT and PT children. Children who heard more caregiver talk at 16 months demonstrated better knowledge- and processing-based language skills at 18 months. The unique contributions of caregiver talk were tempered by medical risk in PT children, especially for processing speed. However, there was no evidence that birth status or medical risk moderated the effects of caregiver talk. These findings highlight the role of caregiver talk in shaping language outcomes in FT and PT children and offer insights into links between neurodevelopmental risk and caregiver-child engagement.

Event-Related Potentials Reflect Deficits in Lexical Access: The N200 in Prematurely Born School-Aged Children

OBJECTIVES

Children born preterm have a high prevalence of neurocognitive deficits early in life. We examined whether the neural correlates of lexical access are atypical in 9-year-old children born preterm, and whether the findings of acoustic mapping correlate with language- and attention-related skills.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The subjects were fourteen 9-year-old children born preterm and 14 full-term, typically developing controls. Two auditory event-related potential (ERP) components, the N200 and the N400, were used to assess discrimination response and word recognition. A set of behavioral tests (naming ability, auditory attention, phonological processing, pseudoword repetition, and comprehension of instructions) was performed, and the results were compared with the amplitudes, latencies, and scalp distribution of the ERP results.

RESULTS

In prematurely born children, neurophysiological deficits were associated with difficulties in auditory discrimination. The N200 amplitude correlated significantly with auditory attention and pseudoword repetition. The scalp distribution of both the N200 and the N400 was broader in children born preterm than in the controls. Low scores in the neuropsychological tasks referred to difficulties in auditory processing and memory.

CONCLUSIONS

Children born preterm have difficulties in lexical access together with memory- and attention-related processes, which may have a longstanding impact on their school outcomes and academic skills.

Changing definitions of long-term follow-up: Should "long term" be even longer?

There have been amazing changes in outcomes of preterm (PT) infants in the past decades. Whereas early studies reported only survival rates, Dr. Julius Hess published the first outcome study of PT infants in Chicago in 1953. Dr. Lubchenco then published the 10-year follow-up of premature infants born in 1947-1953 and identified a 68% handicap rate. As a result of these early studies, the importance of evaluating NICU graduates both for surveillance and as an outcome of trials was recognized. During the 1970s, there was a gradual expansion in the number of follow-up programs in the United States (US) with an increasing number of follow-up studies published. In the 1980s, the importance of multicenter clinical research networks was recognized and the NICHD Neonatal Research Network (NRN) was initiated in 1986. Follow-up protocols, definitions, and outcomes have evolved over the last 30 years and will be reviewed with a focus on NICHD NRN studies.

A simple screen performed at school entry can predict academic under-achievement at age seven in children born very preterm

AIM

We aimed to compare the academic outcomes of a cohort of children born very preterm (VPT, <32 weeks of gestation) and children born at term at age 7 years and assess the ability of a pre-academic skill screen at age five to predict later academic impairment in children born VPT at age seven.

METHODS

One hundred ninety-four children born VPT (born with either gestational age <30 weeks or birthweight <1250 g) and 70 controls born at term from a prospective birth cohort were compared on academic outcomes (Wide Range Achievement Test, WRAT4) at age seven using regression analyses. Receiver-operating characteristic curves were used to determine whether pre-academic skills (Kaufman Survey of Early Academic and Language Skills, K-SEALS) at age five predicted academic impairment at age seven in 174 of the VPT cohort.

RESULTS

At the age of 7 years, children born VPT had lower mean word reading (-9.7, 95% CI: -14.7 to -4.6), spelling (-8.3, 95% CI: -13.3 to -3.3) and math computation (-10.9, 95% CI: -15.3 to -6.5) scores (all P-values ≤0.001) compared with controls born at term, even after adjusting for social risk and time since school commencement. In terms of pre-academic screening, the Numbers, Letters and Words subtest of the K-SEALS had adequate sensitivity and specificity (70-80%) for predicting children with academic impairment at age seven.

CONCLUSIONS

Children born VPT underperformed in academic outcomes at age seven compared with controls born at term. A pre-academic screening tool used at school entry can predict children born VPT at risk of academic impairment at age seven who could benefit from targeted early intervention.

Auditory discrimination predicts linguistic outcome in Italian infants with and without familial risk for language learning impairment

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Italian infants with familial risk for LLI show deficits in RAP abilities.

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Early multi-feature RAP skills predict to later expressive language skills.

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Different acoustical features are critical to normative language acquisition.

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Early RAP skills represent a stable cross-linguistic risk marker for LLI.

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Early intervention programs should be implemented based on these results.

Infants’ ability to discriminate between auditory stimuli presented in rapid succession and differing in fundamental frequency (Rapid Auditory Processing [RAP] abilities) has been shown to be anomalous in infants at familial risk for Language Learning Impairment (LLI) and to predict later language outcomes. This study represents the first attempt to investigate RAP in Italian infants at risk for LLI (FH+), examining two critical acoustic features: frequency and duration, both embedded in a rapidly-presented acoustic environment. RAP skills of 24 FH+ and 32 control (FH−) Italian 6-month-old infants were characterized via EEG/ERP using a multi-feature oddball paradigm. Outcome measures of expressive vocabulary were collected at 20 months.

Group differences favoring FH− infants were identified: in FH+ infants, the latency of the N2* peak was delayed and the mean amplitude of the positive mismatch response was reduced, primarily for frequency discrimination and within the right hemisphere. Moreover, both EEG measures were correlated with language scores at 20 months.

Results indicate that RAP abilities are atypical in Italian infants with a first-degree relative affected by LLI and that this impacts later linguistic skills. These findings provide a compelling cross-linguistic comparison with previous research on American infants, supporting the biological unity hypothesis of LLI.

ICA-derived cortical responses indexing rapid multi-feature auditory processing in six-month-old infants

The abilities of infants to perceive basic acoustic differences, essential for language development, can be studied using auditory event-related potentials (ERPs). However, scalp-channel averaged ERPs sum volume-conducted contributions from many cortical areas, reducing the functional specificity and interpretability of channel-based ERP measures. This study represents the first attempt to investigate rapid auditory processing in infancy using independent component analysis (ICA), allowing exploration of source-resolved ERP dynamics and identification of ERP cortical generators. Here, we recorded 60-channel EEG data in 34 typically developing 6-month-old infants during a passive acoustic oddball paradigm presenting 'standard' tones interspersed with frequency- or duration-deviant tones. ICA decomposition was applied to single-subject EEG data. The best-fitting equivalent dipole or bilaterally symmetric dipole pair was then estimated for each resulting independent component (IC) process using a four-layer infant head model. Similar brain-source ICs were clustered across subjects. Results showed ERP contributions from auditory cortex and multiple extra-auditory cortical areas (often, bilaterally paired). Different cortical source combinations contributed to the frequency- and duration-deviant ERP peak sequences. For ICs in an ERP-dominant source cluster located in or near the mid-cingulate cortex, source-resolved frequency-deviant response N2 latency and P3 amplitude at 6 months-of-age predicted vocabulary size at 20 months-of-age. The same measures for scalp channel F6 (though not for other frontal channels) showed similar but weaker correlations. These results demonstrate the significant potential of ICA analyses to facilitate a deeper understanding of the neural substrates of infant sensory processing.

Reading deficits in very low birthweight children are associated with vocabulary and attention issues at the age of seven

Aim

This Swedish study compared reading skills between seven‐year‐old children with a very low birthweight (VLBW) and controls with a normal birthweight, exploring associations between reading variables and cognition, parent‐rated behaviour, perinatal factors and family factors.

Methods

We studied 51 VLBW children, with no major neurodevelopmental impairments and attending their first year at a regular school, and compared them with the 51 sex‐ and age‐matched controls. The test battery, carried out at 7.8 ± 0.4 years of age, included reading skills, the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – III and the Child Behaviour Checklist.

Results

Very low birthweight children with a mean birthweight of 1105 g (±291 g) and a gestational age of 28.8 (±2.2) weeks scored significantly lower in all reading subtests and cognition and demonstrated more behavioural problems than normal birthweight controls. We also found significant associations between poor vocabulary, combined with attention problems, and phonological awareness, rapid naming and spelling control. Perinatal factors had no association with reading function, and socio‐economic factors had very few.

Conclusion

Very low birthweight children demonstrated deficits in all reading domains and had poorer cognition and more behavioural problems at the age of seven, with reading ability related to vocabulary and attention.

Decreased and Increased Anisotropy along Major Cerebral White Matter Tracts in Preterm Children and Adolescents

Premature birth is highly prevalent and associated with neurodevelopmental delays and disorders. Adverse outcomes, particularly in children born before 32 weeks of gestation, have been attributed in large part to white matter injuries, often found in periventricular regions using conventional imaging. To date, tractography studies of white matter pathways in children and adolescents born preterm have evaluated only a limited number of tracts simultaneously. The current study compares diffusion properties along 18 major cerebral white matter pathways in children and adolescents born preterm (n = 27) and full term (n = 19), using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging and tractography. We found that compared to the full term group, the preterm group had significantly decreased FA in segments of the bilateral uncinate fasciculus and anterior segments of the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus. Additionally, the preterm group had significantly increased FA in segments of the right and left anterior thalamic radiations, posterior segments of the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, and the right and left inferior longitudinal fasciculus. Increased FA in the preterm group was generally associated with decreased radial diffusivity. These findings indicate that prematurity-related white matter differences in later childhood and adolescence do not affect all tracts in the periventricular zone and can involve both decreased and increased FA. Differences in the patterns of radial diffusivity and axial diffusivity suggest that the tissue properties underlying group FA differences may vary within and across white matter tracts. Distinctive diffusion properties may relate to variations in the timing of injury in the neonatal period, extent of white matter dysmaturity and/or compensatory processes in childhood.

Maturation of language networks in children: A systematic review of 22years of functional MRI

Understanding how language networks change during childhood is important for theories of cognitive development and for identifying the neural causes of language impairment. Despite this, there is currently little systematic evidence regarding the typical developmental trajectory for language from the field of neuroimaging. We reviewed functional MRI (fMRI) studies published between 1992 and 2014, and quantified the evidence for age-related changes in localisation and lateralisation of fMRI activation in the language network (excluding the cerebellum and subcortical regions). Although age-related changes differed according to task type and input modality, we identified four consistent findings concerning the typical maturation of the language system. First, activation in core semantic processing regions increases with age. Second, activation in lower-level sensory and motor regions increases with age as activation in higher-level control regions reduces. We suggest that this reflects increased automaticity of language processing as children become more proficient. Third, the posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus (regions associated with the default mode network) show increasing attenuation across childhood and adolescence. Finally, language lateralisation is established by approximately 5years of age. Small increases in leftward lateralisation are observed in frontal regions, but these are tightly linked to performance.

Time, number and attention in very low birth weight children

Premature birth has been associated with damage in many regions of the cerebral cortex, although there is a particularly strong susceptibility for damage within the parieto-occipital lobes (Volpe, 2009). As these areas have been shown to be critical for both visual attention and magnitudes perception (time, space, and number), it is important to investigate the impact of prematurity on both the magnitude and attentional systems, particularly for children without overt white matter injuries, where the lack of obvious injury may cause their difficulties to remain unnoticed. In this study, we investigated the ability to judge time intervals (visual, audio and audio-visual temporal bisection), discriminate between numerical quantities (numerosity comparison), map numbers onto space (numberline task) and to maintain visuo-spatial attention (multiple-object-tracking) in school-age preterm children (N29). The results show that various parietal functions may be more or less robust to prematurity-related difficulties, with strong impairments found on time estimation and attentional task, while numerical discrimination or mapping tasks remained relatively unimpaired. Thus while our study generally supports the hypothesis of a dorsal stream vulnerability in children born preterm relative to other cortical locations, it further suggests that particular cognitive processes, as highlighted by performance on different tasks, are far more susceptible than others.

Early language processing efficiency predicts later receptive vocabulary outcomes in children born preterm

As rates of prematurity continue to rise, identifying which preterm children are at increased risk for learning disabilities is a public health imperative. Identifying continuities between early and later skills in this vulnerable population can also illuminate fundamental neuropsychological processes that support learning in all children. At 18 months adjusted age, we used socioeconomic status (SES), medical variables, parent-reported vocabulary, scores on the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (third edition) language composite, and children's lexical processing speed in the looking-while-listening (LWL) task as predictor variables in a sample of 30 preterm children. Receptive vocabulary as measured by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (fourth edition) at 36 months was the outcome. Receptive vocabulary was correlated with SES, but uncorrelated with degree of prematurity or a composite of medical risk. Importantly, lexical processing speed was the strongest predictor of receptive vocabulary (r = -.81), accounting for 30% unique variance. Individual differences in lexical processing efficiency may be able to serve as a marker for information processing skills that are critical for language learning.

Reading abilities in school-aged preterm children: a review and meta-analysis

AIM

Children born preterm (at ≤32wks) are at risk of developing deficits in reading ability. This meta-analysis aims to determine whether or not school-aged preterm children perform worse than those born at term in single-word reading (decoding) and reading comprehension.

METHOD

Electronic databases were searched for studies published between 2000 and 2013, which assessed decoding or reading comprehension performance in English-speaking preterm and term-born children aged between 6 years and 13 years, and born after 1990. Standardized mean differences in decoding and reading comprehension scores were calculated.

RESULTS

Nine studies were suitable for analysis of decoding, and five for analysis of reading comprehension. Random-effects meta-analyses showed that children born preterm had significantly lower scores (reported as Cohen's d values [d] with 95% confidence intervals [CIs]) than those born at term for decoding (d=-0.42, 95% CI -0.57 to -0.27, p<0.001) and reading comprehension (d=-0.57, 95% CI -0.68 to -0.46, p<0.001). Meta-regressions showed that lower gestational age was associated with larger differences in decoding (Q[1]=5.92, p=0.02) and reading comprehension (Q[1]=4.69, p=0.03) between preterm and term groups. Differences between groups increased with age for reading comprehension (Q[1]=5.10, p=0.02) and, although not significant, there was also a trend for increased group differences for decoding (Q[1]=3.44, p=0.06).

INTERPRETATION

Preterm children perform worse than peers born at term on decoding and reading comprehension. These findings suggest that preterm children should receive more ongoing monitoring for reading difficulties throughout their education.

Cerebellar white matter pathways are associated with reading skills in children and adolescents

Reading is a critical life skill in the modern world. The neural basis of reading incorporates a distributed network of cortical areas and their white matter connections. The cerebellum has also been implicated in reading and reading disabilities. However, little is known about the contribution of cerebellar white matter pathways to major component skills of reading. We used diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) with tractography to identify the cerebellar peduncles in a group of 9- to 17-year-old children and adolescents born full term (FT, n = 19) or preterm (PT, n = 26). In this cohort, no significant differences were found between fractional anisotropy (FA) measures of the peduncles in the PT and FT groups. FA of the cerebellar peduncles correlated significantly with measures of decoding and reading comprehension in the combined sample of FT and PT subjects. Correlations were negative in the superior and inferior cerebellar peduncles and positive in the middle cerebellar peduncle. Additional analyses revealed that FT and PT groups demonstrated similar patterns of reading associations within the left superior cerebellar peduncle, middle cerebellar peduncle, and left inferior cerebellar peduncle. Partial correlation analyses showed that distinct sub-skills of reading were associated with FA in segments of different cerebellar peduncles. Overall, the present findings are the first to document associations of microstructure of the cerebellar peduncles and the component skills of reading.

Pediatric epilepsy and comorbid reading disorders, math disorders, or autism spectrum disorders: Impact of epilepsy on cognitive patterns

INTRODUCTION

In pediatric epilepsy, comorbidities are reported to be frequent. The present study focusedon the cognitive patterns of children with isolated epilepsy, children with isolated neurodevelopmental disorders (reading disorders, math disorders, autism spectrum disorders), and children with epilepsy and these neurodevelopmental disorders as comorbidities.

METHODS

Based on two samples of referred children, one with epilepsy, reading disorders, math disorders, or ASDs occurring in "isolation" (n=117) and one with reading disorders, math disorders, and ASDs occurring comorbid with epilepsy (n=171), cognitive patterns were compared. The patterns displayed by verbal and nonverbal abilities from the WISC series were studied with repeated measures ANOVA. Thereafter, an exploratory 2∗3∗2 factorial analysis was done to study the independent contribution of the type of comorbidity and of the presence or absence of epilepsy to the VIQ-PIQ pattern.

RESULTS

In isolated epilepsy, a VIQ>PIQ pattern was found, which was not seen in the other disorders. When epilepsy and another disorder co-occurred, patterns were altered. They resembled partly the pattern seen in isolated epilepsy and partly the pattern seen in the isolated neurodevelopmental disorder. In comorbid reading disorders, the VIQ>PIQ pattern was mitigated; in comorbid math disorders, it was exacerbated. In comorbid ASDs, no clear pattern emerged. In the presence of epilepsy, patterns characteristic of isolated disorders appeared systematically shifted toward relatively lowered performance abilities or relatively spared verbal abilities. The similar "impact" exerted by epilepsy on the patterns of the various conditions suggested shared mechanisms.

[Course and neurological/behavioral development of preterm children]

Preterm birth remains a public health priority given that one child out of ten is born before 37 weeks of gestation. Survival without major neonatal morbidity has increased in high-income countries, in particular in France and in cases of extreme preterm birth before 27 weeks of gestation. Rate of severe handicaps, such as cerebral palsy, is probably decreasing, but specific cognitive disabilities in a variety of domains remain frequent, interfering with normal learning abilities at school and explaining the high rate of special education needs. Prevalence of sequelae increases when gestational age at birth decreases. However, because there are more moderate to late preterm children compared to very preterm children, the absolute number of children with specific cognitive or neurological disabilities is equivalent in these two groups. Better characterization of the development in a recent cohort of very preterm children is necessary to improve the early detection of variations in normal neurodevelopment and to propose trials with remediation actions targeting working memory and language for example. These protocols could decrease the rates of learning disabilities at school.

The effect of formal, neonatal communication-intervention training on mothers in kangaroo care

Background

Due to low-birth-weight, preterm birth, HIV and/or AIDS and poverty-related factors, South Africa presents with an increased prevalence of infants at risk of language delay. A Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) unit offers unique opportunities for training.

Aim

The aim of the present study was to determine if formal, neonatal communication-intervention training had an effect on mothers’ knowledge and communication interaction with their high-risk infants.

Methods

Three groups of mothers participated: Group 1 was trained whilst practicing KMC; Group 2 was not trained but practiced KMC; and Group 3 was also not trained but practiced sporadic KMC. Ten mothers per group were matched for age, education level and birth order of their infants. The individual training was based on graded sensory stimulation and responsive mother-infant communication interaction, which emphasised talking and singing by the mother.

Results

Significant differences were found in mother-infant communication interaction between all three groups, which indicated a positive effect on Group 1 with training. Group 2, KMC without training, also had a positive effect on interaction. However, Group 1 mothers with training demonstrated better knowledge of their infants and were more responsive during interaction than the other two groups.

Conclusion

The present study suggests that neonatal communication-intervention training adds value to a KMC programme.

Long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes after preterm birth

CONTEXT

All over the the world, preterm birth is a major cause of death and important neurodevelopmental disorders. Approximately 9.6% (12.9 million) births worldwide are preterm.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

In this review, databases such as PubMed, EMBASE, ISI, Scopus, Google Scholar and Iranian databases including Iranmedex, and SID were researched to review relevant literature. A comprehensive search was performed using combinations of various keywords.

RESULTS

Cerebral palsy especially spastic diplegia, intellectual disability, visual (retinopathy of prematurity) and hearing impairments are the main neurodevelopmental disorders associated with prematurity.

CONCLUSIONS

The increased survival of preterm infants was not associated with lower complications. There is now increasing evidence of sustained adverse outcomes into school age and adolescence, for preterm infants.

Difficulty in Mental, Neuromusculoskeletal, and Movement-Related School Functions Associated With Low Birthweight or Preterm Birth: A Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVE. Our objective was to perform a meta-analysis to investigate whether low birthweight (LBW) or preterm birth was associated with difficulty in mental, neuromusculoskeletal, and movement-related school function tasks.

METHOD. Two search strategies produced 40 studies that met the inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis and yielded 549 effect sizes (d). Heterogeneity was evaluated by obtaining Q and I-squared values. Egger’s regression intercept test and a funnel plot were used to check for publication bias.

RESULTS. Children born LBW exhibited considerable difficulties in mental (d = −0.655, p &lt; .0001) and neuromusculoskeletal and movement-related tasks (d = −0.391, p &lt; .0001) compared with children of normal birthweight. Children born preterm also exhibited significant difficulties compared with full-term children in mental, neuromusculoskeletal, and movement-related tasks (d = −0.237, p &lt; .0001).

CONCLUSION. Deficits in mental and motor functions in children born LBW or preterm appear to have significant effects on school readiness and academic achievement.

Executive function outcome in preterm adolescents

Preterm birth (PT) and low birthweight (LBW) are risk factors for cognitive, academic, and behavioral difficulties. Executive functioning, which is an umbrella term encompassing higher-order problem-solving and goal-oriented abilities, may help to understand these impairments. This review article examines executive functioning in PT and LBW children, with a specific focus on adolescence and the functional consequences of executive dysfunction in this age group. We have focused on adolescence as it is a critical period for brain, cognitive and social-emotional development, and a period of increased autonomy, independence and reliance on executive functioning. While more longitudinal research is required, there is evidence demonstrating that the PT/LBW population is at increased risk for impairments across all executive domains. Emerging evidence also suggests that executive dysfunction may partly explain poorer academic and social-emotional competence in PT/LBW adolescents. In conclusion, PT/LBW adolescents exhibit poorer executive functioning, and close surveillance is recommended for high-risk individuals.

Impaired language abilities and white matter abnormalities in children born very preterm and/or very low birth weight

OBJECTIVES

To investigate language abilities in children born very preterm (VPT; <32 weeks' gestational age) or very low birth weight (VLBW; <1500 g) at 7 years of age and compare their performances with children born at term, and to determine whether group differences could be explained by cerebral white matter abnormality on neonatal magnetic resonance imaging.

STUDY DESIGN

A cohort of 198 children born <30 weeks' gestational age and/or <1250 g, and 70 term controls were examined. White matter abnormalities were rated quantitatively on brain magnetic resonance imaging at term-equivalent age. Language was assessed at age 7 years using standardized language tests. Differences between groups were tested in the 5 language subdomains of phonological awareness, semantics, grammar, discourse, and pragmatics. A mediation effect was tested between birth group, white matter abnormality, and language subdomains.

RESULTS

The VPT/VLBW group performed significantly worse than controls on all language subdomains (all P < .001). White matter abnormality mediated the effect of group differences on phonological awareness, and partly mediated this effect for semantics, grammar, and discourse. White matter abnormality was not significantly associated with pragmatics (P = .13).

CONCLUSIONS

Language is an important area of concern in children born VPT/VLBW. Neonatal white matter abnormality is an important predictor of outcome; however, different language abilities are differentially associated with neonatal white matter abnormality.

Word recognition and phonological representation in very low birth weight preterms

BACKGROUND

Several studies have shown impaired neurocognitive development in infants born very preterm. Language is one of the areas that may be affected. Early lexical development measurements have revealed possible delays associated with low gestational age, but no studies have analyzed lexical processing using real-time measures in this at-risk population.

AIMS

To explore the effects of preterm birth on the robustness of phonological representations and lexical processing speed.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

Eighteen two-year-old VLBW healthy preterms (≤32weeks of gestation; ≤1500g) and a matched group of at term infants, equivalent in age, gender, SES, linguistic environment and expressive lexicon were compared in a 'looking-while-listening' task, using correctly pronounced and mispronounced known words involving a vowel change. Percentage of target fixation, longest look duration, shift rate and orientation latency measures were used to analyze possible between-group differences in phonological representation and familiar word recognition processes.

RESULTS

Based on the percentage of fixation time measure both groups succeeded at word recognition and responded similarly to mispronunciations. However, preterms significantly differed from full-terms in processing speed measures, showing longer look duration, lower shift rate and slower orientation latencies to target from distracter.

CONCLUSIONS

Preterm birth negatively affects lexical processing speed. Birth weight and gestational age are two critical variables in these results. Slower language processing in preterms can compromise the acquisition of more complex lexical and grammatical representations later in development and may underlie poor language outcomes frequently observed in children born very prematurely.