Late premature babies have a different brain structure

Prematurely born babies go on to develop in slightly different ways, a study conducted by researchers from the University of Iowa shows. Kids who were born four to six weeks too early tend to have slightly less white matter in the brain later on in life, as well as a thalamus that is a little smaller. What does that really mean in practice?

Despite these studies, not much was known about the causes behind these difficulties — the actual brain structure of these late preemies.

Jane Brumbaugh and her colleagues set out to discover how late preterm babies' brains differed from those of babies born on time (at term). The researched team "mapped" the brains of 32 children who were born between four and six weeks prematurely, using MRI scans. The kids, who were aged between seven and 13, then took part in tests that determined their motor skills and learning abilities. Those tests included the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, the Benton Judgment of Line Orientation to determine the children's visual perception, and Grooved Pegboard to assess their fine motor skills and coordination.

The children's parents completed questionnaires that helped the researchers gain an insight into their behavior. The results of the preemies' MRI scans and other tests were compared to the test results of 64 children in the same age range who were not born prematurely. The results were fascinating.

The preemie group was shown to have a different brain structure than the control group. Not only did the prematurely born children have less white matter in their brains, their thalamus (a part of the brain involved in regulating emotions and motor movements connected to emotions) was smaller too. In addition, the preemie group had more difficulty with memory tasks that required the processing of visual information.

What does this mean for parents of preemies, and what does it mean for society?

Jan Brumbaugh, who is with the University of Iowa Stead Family Department of Pediatrics, noted that late preterm births make up eight percent of total births in the United States each year. This is a significant percentage, and that makes the development of late preemies a "public health issue", the researcher said.

READ What To Expect With A Preemie

The differences were only observable in larger groups and though the researchers used state of the art techniques to get their results, they really didn't have that big a sample.

Brumbaugh said:

"The effects of late preterm birth on the brain have not yet been fully characterised, and it has been assumed that there are no significant consequences to being born a few weeks early. Our preliminary findings show that children born late preterm have differences in brain structure and deficits in specific cognitive skills compared to children born full term."

We're just dealing with preliminary results, in other words. Further research is still required. In the meantime, it is hopeful for parents to know that more accurate scientific research studies that looks into brain structure as well as observable behavior, are now starting to become available. This study could be one of several that will eventually help late premature babies overcome the difficulties they may potentially encounter at some point in their lives because they happened to come into the world before they should have.

Parents whose late-term preemies later develop some type of social, behavioral, or learning difficulty can, meanwhile, remember the study — and relay the fact that their children was born slightly prematurely to any medical doctor or psychologist the child comes into contact with. This could help tailor any treatment plan to their particular needs.