Plays Independent Roles in Congenital Heart Disease and Neurodevelopmental Disability.

Up to 50% of patients with severe congenital heart disease (CHD) develop life-altering neurodevelopmental disability (NDD). It has been presumed that NDD arises in CHD cases because of hypoxia before, during, or after cardiac surgery. Recent studies detected an enrichment in de novo mutations in CHD and NDD, as well as significant overlap between CHD and NDD candidate genes.

Early brain microstructural development among preterm infants requiring caesarean section versus those delivered vaginally.

It is known that the rate of caesarean section (C-section) has been increasing among preterm births. However, the relationship between C-section and long-term neurological outcomes is unclear. In this study, we utilized diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to characterize the association of delivery method with brain white matter (WM) microstructural integrity in preterm infants.

Early brain microstructural development among preterm infants requiring caesarean section versus those delivered vaginally.

It is known that the rate of caesarean section (C-section) has been increasing among preterm births. However, the relationship between C-section and long-term neurological outcomes is unclear. In this study, we utilized diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to characterize the association of delivery method with brain white matter (WM) microstructural integrity in preterm infants.

Association of Body Mass Index and Waist Circumference With Imaging Metrics of Brain Integrity and Functional Connectivity in Children Aged 9 to 10 Years in the US, 2016-2018.

Importance: Aside from widely known cardiovascular implications, higher weight in children may have negative associations with brain microstructure and neurodevelopment.

Objective: To evaluate the association of body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference with imaging metrics that approximate brain health.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional study used data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study to examine the association of BMI and waist circumference with multimodal neuroimaging metrics of brain health in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses over 2 years.

Population level multimodal neuroimaging correlates of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder among children.

Objectives: Leveraging a large population-level morphologic, microstructural, and functional neuroimaging dataset, we aimed to elucidate the underlying neurobiology of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. In addition, we evaluated the applicability of machine learning classifiers to predict ADHD diagnosis based on imaging and clinical information.

Methods: From the Adolescents Behavior Cognitive Development (ABCD) database, we included 1,798 children with ADHD diagnosis and 6,007 without ADHD.

A 1-Tesla MRI system for dedicated brain imaging in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Objective: To assess the feasibility of a point-of-care 1-Tesla MRI for identification of intracranial pathologies within neonatal intensive care units (NICUs).

Methods: Clinical findings and point-of-care 1-Tesla MRI imaging findings of NICU patients (1/2021 to 6/2022) were evaluated and compared with other imaging modalities when available.

Results: A total of 60 infants had point-of-care 1-Tesla MRI; one scan was incompletely terminated due to motion.

Hypoconnectivity between anterior insula and amygdala associates with future vulnerabilities in social development in a neurodiverse sample of neonates.

Altered resting state functional connectivity (FC) involving the anterior insula (aINS), a key node in the salience network, has been reported consistently in autism. Here we examined, for the first time, FC between the aINS and the whole brain in a sample of full-term, postmenstrual age (PMA) matched neonates (mean 44.0 weeks, SD = 1.

Brain injury patterns in hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy of term neonates.

Background And Purpose: Topographic patterns of brain injury in neonates can help with differentiation and prognostic categorization of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). In this study, we quantitatively and objectively characterized the location of hypoxic ischemic lesions in term neonates with varying severity of HIE.

Methods: We analyzed term neonates (born ≥37 postmenstrual gestational weeks) with MRI diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and diagnoses of HIE.

Age-related topographic map of magnetic resonance diffusion metrics in neonatal brains.

Accelerated maturation of brain parenchyma close to term-equivalent age leads to rapid changes in diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics of neonatal brains, which can complicate the evaluation and interpretation of these scans. In this study, we characterized the topography of age-related evolution of diffusion metrics in neonatal brains. We included 565 neonates who had MRI between 0 and 3 months of age, with no structural or signal abnormality-including 162 who had DTI scans.

Functional connectivity for the language network in the developing brain: 30 weeks of gestation to 30 months of age.

Although the neural scaffolding for language is putatively present before birth, the maturation of functional connections among the key nodes of the language network, Broca's and Wernicke's areas, is less known. We leveraged longitudinal and cross-sectional data from three sites collected through six studies to track the development of functional circuits between Broca's and Wernicke's areas from 30 weeks of gestation through 30 months of age in 127 unique participants. Using resting-state fMRI data, functional connectivity was calculated as the correlation between fMRI time courses from pairs of regions, defined as Broca's and Wernicke's in both hemispheres.

Exome sequencing implicates genetic disruption of prenatal neuro-gliogenesis in sporadic congenital hydrocephalus.

Congenital hydrocephalus (CH), characterized by enlarged brain ventricles, is considered a disease of excessive cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) accumulation and thereby treated with neurosurgical CSF diversion with high morbidity and failure rates. The poor neurodevelopmental outcomes and persistence of ventriculomegaly in some post-surgical patients highlight our limited knowledge of disease mechanisms. Through whole-exome sequencing of 381 patients (232 trios) with sporadic, neurosurgically treated CH, we found that damaging de novo mutations account for >17% of cases, with five different genes exhibiting a significant de novo mutation burden.

De novo damaging variants associated with congenital heart diseases contribute to the connectome.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) survivors are at risk for neurodevelopmental disability (NDD), and recent studies identify genes associated with both disorders, suggesting that NDD in CHD survivors may be of genetic origin. Genes contributing to neurogenesis, dendritic development and synaptogenesis organize neural elements into networks known as the connectome. We hypothesized that NDD in CHD may be attributable to genes altering both neural connectivity and cardiac patterning.

Amygdala functional connectivity is associated with social impairments in preterm born young adults.

Survivors of preterm birth experience long-lasting behavioral problems characterized by increased risk of depression, anxiety, and impairments in social functioning. The amygdala is a key region for social functioning and alterations in amygdala structure and connectivity are thought to underlie social functioning deficits in many disorders, including preterm birth. However, functional connectivity of the amygdala and its association with social impairments is not well-studied in preterm participants (PTs).

Fine Motor Skill Mediates Visual Memory Ability with Microstructural Neuro-correlates in Cerebellar Peduncles in Prematurely Born Adolescents.

Adolescents born preterm (PT) with no evidence of neonatal brain injury are at risk of deficits in visual memory and fine motor skills that diminish academic performance. The association between these deficits and white matter microstructure is relatively unexplored. We studied 190 PTs with no brain injury and 92 term controls at age 16 years.

Weak functional connectivity in the human fetal brain prior to preterm birth.

It has been suggested that neurological problems more frequent in those born preterm are expressed prior to birth, but owing to technical limitations, this has been difficult to test in humans. We applied novel fetal resting-state functional MRI to measure brain function in 32 human fetuses in utero and found that systems-level neural functional connectivity was diminished in fetuses that would subsequently be born preterm. Neural connectivity was reduced in a left-hemisphere pre-language region, and the degree to which connectivity of this left language region extended to right-hemisphere homologs was positively associated with the time elapsed between fMRI assessment and delivery.

Does prenatal stress alter the developing connectome?

Human neurodevelopment requires the organization of neural elements into complex structural and functional networks called the connectome. Emerging data suggest that prenatal exposure to maternal stress plays a role in the wiring, or miswiring, of the developing connectome. Stress-related symptoms are common in women during pregnancy and are risk factors for neurobehavioral disorders ranging from autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and addiction, to major depression and schizophrenia.

Prenatal stress alters amygdala functional connectivity in preterm neonates.

Exposure to prenatal and early-life stress results in alterations in neural connectivity and an increased risk for neuropsychiatric disorders. In particular, alterations in amygdala connectivity have emerged as a common effect across several recent studies. However, the impact of prenatal stress exposure on the functional organization of the amygdala has yet to be explored in the prematurely-born, a population at high risk for neuropsychiatric disorders.

Blood Pressure in Young Adults Born at Very Low Birth Weight: Adults Born Preterm International Collaboration.

Adults born preterm at very low birth weight (VLBW; <1500 g) have higher blood pressure than those born at term. It is not known whether all VLBW adults are at risk or whether higher blood pressure could be attributed to some of the specific conditions underlying or accompanying preterm birth. To identify possible risk or protective factors, we combined individual-level data from 9 cohorts that measured blood pressure in young adults born at VLBW or with a more stringent birth weight criterion.

Functional magnetic resonance connectivity studies in infants born preterm: suggestions of proximate and long-lasting changes in language organization.

Sophisticated neuroimaging strategies demonstrate alterations in functional connectivity at school age, adolescence, and young adulthood in individuals born preterm. Recent data suggest these alterations are present in the postnatal period prior to term-equivalent age in neonates born preterm. Likewise, functional organization increases across development, but the influence of preterm birth on this fundamental infrastructure is immediate and unchanging.