Does preterm birth affect global and configural processing differently?

Aim: We investigated whether preterm birth affects later visuocognitive function and, in particular, whether it affects global and configural perceptual processing differently.

Method: We compared the performance of 21 healthy preterm children (8 females, 13 males; mean age 7 y 8 mo, SD 8 mo; mean gestational age 29.3 wks, SD 1.9; mean birthweight 1186.5 g, SD 377.2) with that of a matched term comparison group (8 females, 13 males; mean age 7 y 11 mo, SD 1 y 1 mo; mean gestational age >37 wks; mean birthweight >2500 g) in two perceptual tasks pinpointing differences between local and global and between local and configural processing.

Results: There was no difference between preterm and term children's global processing, as both groups showed a bias towards global information (preterm: t[1,20]=2.6, p=0.01; comparison group: t[1,20]=3.0, p=0.01). By contrast, no such typical pattern of performance was found for configural processing as, unlike the comparison group (t[1,20]=7.1, p<0.001), preterm children preferentially relied on local rather than on configural information (t[1,20]=-15.4, p<0.001).

Interpretation: These findings suggest that preterm birth may have a greater influence on the development of later perceptual skills than originally envisaged. We discuss the results according to the current and dominant view of the visual system.