Rewiring the extremely preterm brain: Altered structural connectivity relates to language function

Extremely preterm children demonstrate hyperconnectivity during verb generation: A multimodal approach

“…Due to differential rates of--and impact from--prematurity, we assessed any differences in sex, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status and accounted for these factors in analysis, finding no significant differences. Finally, we used a multimodal neuroimaging pipeline that enables investigation into the cortical morphometry ( Barnes-Davis, Williamson et al, 2020a ); structural connectivity ( Barnes-Davis et al, 2020b ); functional connectivity ( Barnes-Davis et al, 2018 ); and neurobehavioral outcomes for our preterm and term participants at a single session. Multimodal investigations such as this have received attention recently in the scientific community as a way to increase reproducibility in functional imaging ( Botvinik-Nezer et al, 2020 ).…”

“…We were able to leverage the temporal resolution of MEG to assess information flux and concluded that hyperconnectivity was due to increased drivers in right perisylvian cortex, supporting our theory of an alternate developmental trajectory and not merely a delay in normal language lateralization ( Barnes-Davis et al, 2018 ). Additionally, through investigation of diffusion imaging obtained in the same study visit, we were able to show this increased connectivity was due to an atypically robust extracallosal pathway connecting bilateral perisylvian cortices ( Barnes-Davis et al, 2020b ). Performance on language tasks was positively correlated with extracallosal structural connectivity for the preterm group exclusively.…”

Development and plasticity of the corpus callosum

“…During development, defects in neuronal/glial proliferation and migration, axonal growth, guidance cues, refinement or myelination can interrupt CC formation and lead to mild or severe CC congenital malformations, which are generally classified as dysgenesis. Such defects can be caused by genetic mutations (Edwards et al, 2014) or by early environmental insults, such as alcohol exposure or preterm deliveries (Riley et al, 1995;Sepulveda et al, 2011;Spadoni et al, 2007;Barnes-Davis et al, 2020). Insults during the first stages of CC development (GW11) can lead to the complete absence of CC (cAgCC), while insults occurring later (from GW12 to GW30) can cause a partial loss of the CC ( pAgCC) or a reduction in the size of the fully formed CC (hypoplasia).…”

Extremely Preterm Children Demonstrate Interhemispheric Hyperconnectivity During Verb Generation: a Multimodal Approach

“…Due to differential rates of--and impact from-- prematurity, we assessed any differences in sex, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status and accounted for these factors in analysis, finding no significant differences. Finally, we used a multimodal neuroimaging pipeline that enables investigation into the cortical morphometry (Barnes-Davis, Williamson, Merhar, Holland, & Kadis, 2020a); structural connectivity (Barnes-Davis et al, 2020b); functional connectivity (Barnes-Davis et al, 2018); and neurobehavioral outcomes for our preterm and term participants at a single session. Multimodal investigations such as this have received attention recently in the scientific community as a way to increase reproducibility in functional imaging (Botvinik-Nezer et al, 2020).…”

“…We were able to leverage the temporal resolution of MEG to assess information flux and concluded that hyperconnectivity was due to increased drivers in right perisylvian cortex, supporting our theory of an alternate developmental trajectory and not merely a delay in normal language lateralization (Barnes-Davis et al, 2018). Additionally, through investigation of diffusion imaging obtained in the same study visit, we were able to show this increased connectivity was due to an atypically robust extracallosal pathway connecting bilateral perisylvian cortices (Barnes-Davis, Williamson, Merhar, Holland, & Kadis, 2020b). Performance on language tasks was positively correlated with extracallosal structural connectivity for the preterm group exclusively.…”