Preterm Sex Differences in Neurodevelopment and Brain Development from Early Life to 8 Years of Age.

Objective: To examine sex differences in neurodevelopmental outcomes and brain development from early life to 8 years in males and females born preterm.

Study Design: This was a prospective cohort study of infants born very preterm (24-32 weeks of gestation) and followed to 8 years with standardized measures of neurodevelopment. Brain magnetic resonance imaging scans were performed soon after birth, term-equivalent age, and 8 years.

Socioeconomic status moderates associations between hippocampal development and cognition in preterms.

Objective: The hippocampus plays a critical role in cognitive networks. The anterior hippocampus is vulnerable to early-life stress and socioeconomic status (SES) with alterations persisting beyond childhood. How SES modifies the relationship between early hippocampal development and cognition remains poorly understood.

Change in Volumes and Location of Preterm White Matter Injury over a Period of 15 Years.

Objective: To evaluate whether white matter injury (WMI) volumes and spatial distribution, which are important predictors of neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infants, have changed over a period of 15 years.

Study Design: Five hundred and twenty-eight infants born <32 weeks' gestational age from 2 sequential prospective cohorts (cohort 1: 2006 through 2012; cohort 2: 2014 through 2019) underwent early-life (median 32.7 weeks postmenstrual age) and/or term-equivalent-age MRI (median 40.

Size and Location of Preterm Brain Injury and Associations With Neurodevelopmental Outcomes.

Background And Objectives: We examined associations of white matter injury (WMI) and periventricular hemorrhagic infarction (PVHI) volume and location with 18-month neurodevelopment in very preterm infants.

Methods: A total of 254 infants born <32 weeks' gestational age were prospectively recruited across 3 tertiary neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Infants underwent early-life (median 33.

Pain Exposure and Brain Connectivity in Preterm Infants.

Importance: Early-life exposure to painful procedures has been associated with altered brain maturation and neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infants, although sex-specific differences are largely unknown.

Objective: To examine sex-specific associations among early-life pain exposure, alterations in neonatal structural connectivity, and 18-month neurodevelopment in preterm infants.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This prospective cohort study recruited 193 very preterm infants from April 1, 2015, to April 1, 2019, across 2 tertiary neonatal intensive care units in Toronto, Canada.