Children born prematurely are at risk for Periventricular Hemorrhage (PVH) and Periventricular Leukomalacia (PVL), lesions which lead to unilateral and multi-focal white matter damage, respectively. Children with PVH and PVL are at risk for neurodevelopmental disabilities. The goal of this study is to relate the degree and patterns of white matter damage from PVH and PVL to linguistic and cognitive outcomes. Two sophisticated MRI procedures will complement behavioral testing. Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) provides detailed voxel-based quantitative information on the integrity of white matter microstructure;functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) characterizes the patterns of neural activity underlying cognitive skills. fMRI tasks will assess domains known to be supported in mature functioning by widely distributed brain circuitry that may be impaired after white matter injury-comprehension of syntactically complex sentences, which relies on interhemispheric integration, and oculomotor response inhibition and spatial working memory, which rely on occipital-frontal and cortical-subcortical integration. The combination of methods will allow us to link brain structure, brain functioning, and behavioral outcomes. Participants will be 40 adolescents, 9 to 14 years old, with PVH or PVL from preterm delivery. Two control groups (children born prematurely and children born at term) matched for age, gender and socioeconomic status (SES) will clarify the contribution of white matter damage versus other influences, such as age and premature delivery, on outcomes. Regression analyses will evaluate the associations of global and track-specific white matter damage and behavioral outcomes. Models will also consider the contributions of age, gender, SES, and extent of gray matter injury to white matter integrity and outcomes. Patterns of activation on fMRI will be evaluated in relation to the extent and pattern of white matter damage and to scores on the behavioral measures. We will identify cases that reveal important relations between neural structure and function. This study will contribute to understanding the outcomes of PVH and PVL, an important issue because of the large number of affected infants. It will contribute to understanding the importance of white matter connections in the normal development of cognitive processes. It will also contribute to understanding the impact of white matter injury and the development of cortical plasticity after early brain injuries.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01HD046500-04
Application #
7646320
Study Section
Child Psychopathology and Developmental Disabilities Study Section (CPDD)
Program Officer
Vitkovic, Ljubisa
Project Start
2006-09-25
Project End
2011-06-30
Budget Start
2009-07-01
Budget End
2010-06-30
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2009
Total Cost
$353,921
Indirect Cost
Name
Stanford University
Department
Pediatrics
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
009214214
City
Stanford
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
94305
Travis, Katherine E; Adams, Jenna N; Kovachy, Vanessa N et al. (2017) White matter properties differ in 6-year old Readers and Pre-readers. Brain Struct Funct 222:1685-1703
Travis, Katherine E; Ben-Shachar, Michal; Myall, Nathaniel J et al. (2016) Variations in the neurobiology of reading in children and adolescents born full term and preterm. Neuroimage Clin 11:555-565
Travis, Katherine E; Leitner, Yael; Ben-Shachar, Michal et al. (2016) Case Series: Fractional Anisotropy Profiles of the Cerebellar Peduncles in Adolescents Born Preterm With Ventricular Dilation. J Child Neurol 31:321-7
Leitner, Yael; Travis, Katherine E; Ben-Shachar, Michal et al. (2015) Tract Profiles of the Cerebellar White Matter Pathways in Children and Adolescents. Cerebellum 14:613-623
Travis, Katherine E; Leitner, Yael; Feldman, Heidi M et al. (2015) Cerebellar white matter pathways are associated with reading skills in children and adolescents. Hum Brain Mapp 36:1536-53
Kovachy, Vanessa N; Adams, Jenna N; Tamaresis, John S et al. (2015) Reading abilities in school-aged preterm children: a review and meta-analysis. Dev Med Child Neurol 57:410-9
Travis, Katherine E; Adams, Jenna N; Ben-Shachar, Michal et al. (2015) Decreased and Increased Anisotropy along Major Cerebral White Matter Tracts in Preterm Children and Adolescents. PLoS One 10:e0142860
Myall, Nathaniel J; Yeom, Kristen W; Yeatman, Jason D et al. (2013) Case series: fractional anisotropy along the trajectory of selected white matter tracts in adolescents born preterm with ventricular dilation. J Child Neurol 28:774-80
Yeatman, Jason D; Feldman, Heidi M (2013) Neural plasticity after pre-linguistic injury to the arcuate and superior longitudinal fasciculi. Cortex 49:301-11
Loe, Irene M; Lee, Eliana S; Feldman, Heidi M (2013) Attention and internalizing behaviors in relation to white matter in children born preterm. J Dev Behav Pediatr 34:156-64

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