Corpus callosum size and neuropsychologic impairment in adolescents who were born preterm.

Full Abstract

Prematurity is associated with cerebral abnormalities that might account for poorer cognitive performance. The aim of our study was to investigate the correlations between corpus callosum reductions and neuropsychologic performance in adolescents who were born preterm. Twenty-five subjects born before 33 weeks' gestation were compared with 25 subjects born at term and of similar age, gender, and sociocultural status. All subjects underwent magnetic resonance imaging and neuropsychologic examinations. Premature subjects performed worse than controls in global cognitive functioning, verbal memory, and verbal fluency. Corpus callosum measurements showed a global reduction owing mainly to thinning in the splenium, posterior midbody, and genu. Corpus callosum size significantly correlated with gestational age, Wechsler Performance IQ, and memory performance. These results suggest that cerebral growth during infancy does not compensate for corpus callosum reduction and that this reduction reflects neuropsychologic deficit. The cognitive impairment can arise from the paucity of the complex interneuronal connections owing to fiber damage, particularly myelinated fibers.

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Author information

Author/s: Caldú, Xavier (X); Narberhaus, Ana (A); Junqué, Carme (C); Giménez, Mónica (M); Vendrell, Pere (P); Bargalló, Núria (N); Segarra, Dolors (D); Botet, Francesc (F);

Affiliation: Department of Psychiaty and Clinical Psychobiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of child neurology (J Child Neurol), published in Canada. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-May; vol 21 (issue 5) : pp 406-10

Dates: Created 2006/08/11; Completed 2006/10/27; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 16901446, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent
Case-Control Studies
Cognition Disorders - pathology; psychology
Corpus Callosum - pathology
Female
Gestational Age
Humans

Infant, Newborn
Infant, Premature
Infant, Premature, Diseases - pathology; psychology
Intelligence
Male
Neuropsychological Tests
Organ Size

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