Early High-Dose Erythropoietin and Cognitive Functions of School-Aged Children Born Very Preterm.

Importance: Children born very preterm are at risk for long-term neurodevelopmental sequelae. Prophylactic high-dose recombinant human erythropoietin (rhEpo) shortly after birth has not been shown to improve cognitive, motor, and behavioral development at 2 and 5 years.

Objective: To investigate whether early high-dose rhEpo is associated with better executive functions and processing speed-late-maturing cognitive functions-in school-aged children born very preterm.

Inhibition abilities and functional brain connectivity in school-aged term-born and preterm-born children.

Background: Inhibition abilities are known to have impact on self-regulation, behavior, and academic success, and they are frequently impaired in children born preterm. We investigated the possible contributions of resting-state functional brain connectivity to inhibition following preterm birth.

Methods: Forty-four preterm and 59 term-born participants aged 8-13 years were administered two inhibition tasks and resting-state functional MRI was performed.

Effects of Correcting for Prematurity on Executive Function Scores of Children Born Very Preterm at School Age.

Objective: To investigate whether correction for prematurity affects executive function scores in school-aged children born very preterm.

Study Design: Executive functions were assessed with standardized neuropsychological tests in 142 children born very preterm (born at ≤32 weeks of gestational age or with a birth weight of ≤1500 g) and 391 control children, aged 7-13 years. Four-month age bands were established from the data of control children.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children with and without risk for neurodevelopmental impairments.

Aim: To examine how the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic impacts child well-being and family functioning, particularly among children at risk for neurodevelopmental impairments.

Methods: Families of 73 typically developing children, 54 children born very preterm (VPT) and 73 children with congenital heart disease (CHD) from two prospective cohort studies were assessed prior to (mean age: 10.4 [SD: 1.

Altered brain metabolism contributes to executive function deficits in school-aged children born very preterm.

Background: Executive function deficits in children born very preterm (VPT) have been linked to anatomical abnormalities in white matter and subcortical brain structures. This study aimed to investigate how altered brain metabolism contributes to these deficits in VPT children at school-age.

Methods: Fifty-four VPT participants aged 8-13 years and 62 term-born peers were assessed with an executive function test battery.

Executive function deficits mediate the association between very preterm birth and behavioral problems at school-age.

Background & Aims: Children and adolescents born very preterm are at increased risk to develop executive function deficits and to suffer from social, emotional and attentional problems. This study investigated whether executive function deficits contribute to behavioral problems in children and adolescents born very preterm at school-age.

Study Design: Thirty-eight children and adolescents born very preterm and 41 age-matched term-born peers were assessed at a mean age of 12.

Inhibition is associated with whole-brain structural brain connectivity on network level in school-aged children born very preterm and at term.

Inhibition abilities are often impaired in children born very preterm. In typically-developing individuals, inhibition has been associated with structural brain connectivity (SC). As SC is frequently altered following preterm birth, this study investigated whether aberrant SC underlies inhibition deficits in school-aged children born very preterm.

Long-term neuroprotective effect of erythropoietin on executive functions in very preterm children (EpoKids): protocol of a prospective follow-up study.

Introduction: Premature infants are particularly vulnerable to brain injuries with associated cognitive and behavioural deficits. The worldwide first randomised interventional multicentre trial investigating the neuroprotective effects of erythropoietin (entitled 'Does erythropoietin improve outcome in very preterm infants?' (NCT00413946)) included 450 very preterm infants in Switzerland. MRI at term equivalent age showed less white matter (WM) injury in the erythropoietin group compared with the placebo group.

A Single-blinded, Randomized Clinical Trial of How to Implement an Evidence-based Treatment for Generalized Anxiety Disorder [IMPLEMENT]--Effects of Three Different Strategies of Implementation.

Background: Despite long-standing calls to disseminate evidence-based treatments for generalized anxiety (GAD), modest progress has been made in the study of how such treatments should be implemented. The primary objective of this study was to test three competing strategies on how to implement a cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) for out-patients with GAD (i.e.