[Source:  Medical News Today]

Disturbances in the early stages of brain growth, such as preterm birth – when many of the brain’s structures have not yet fully developed – appears to affect the brain’s neuro-circuitry, which may explain premature babies’ higher risk of neurodevelopmental disorders including ADHD and autism spectrum disorder.

Researchers led by Natasha Lepore, PhD, of The Saban Research Institute of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, have located significant alterations to specific surface regions of the brain. Described in a study published online this week by the journal Brain Structure and Function, their identification of neuroanatomical changes related to prematurity helps explain what brain structure and circuitry are affected, and may lead to designing effective prevention strategies and early interventional treatments for cognitive disabilities.

Using three-dimensional brain structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Lepore and colleagues analyzed the structure and neural circuitry of two specific areas of the brain in 17 preterm and 19 term-born babies: the thalamus – the brain’s relay station, critical to sending and receiving sensory information- and the putamen, part of an intricate circuit connecting to the brain’s frontal lobe and involved in a number of different processes, most notably regulation of movement and learning.

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