1-119 - Perceptual and Cognitive Long-term Sequelae of Pre-term Birth

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

The survival rate of pre-term children is increasing dramatically worldwide, particularly in the most immature infant groups due to recent advances in perinatal medicine. However, those infants born extremely pre-term (EPT), i.e., before the beginning of the third trimester, are also the most vulnerable, and concerns over mortality rates are now being replaced with concerns about morbidity and long-term sequelae. Although there are well-established lines of research into the acute and long-term medical complications of pre-term birth, there is much to be learned about their more subtle and often later discovered cognitive and visual–perceptual deficiencies. In this symposium, Paper 1 will present evidence that the visual acuity and visual memory of school-aged EPT children are significantly impaired and that these impairments are correlated with deficits in cognitive abilities. Paper 2 will provide evidence that higher level visual processing (i.e., motion and form perception) are impaired in 6.5-year-old EPT children. Paper 3 will show that EPT children have deficits in their intuitive number sense and their mathematical abilities, but that only the latter are correlated with gestational age suggesting that brain structures critical for number sense develop at a different point during gestation than those critical for mathematical abilities. Finally, Paper 4 will show that normal general movements and postural patterns during the first months after birth are predictive of later normal cognitive development in pre-term children. Together, these presentations will provide a comprehensive overview of the perceptual and cognitive sequelae of pre-term birth and early predictors of favorable outcomes.

Sub Unit

• Health, Growth, Injury

Chairs

• Melissa E Libertus, Univ of Pittsburgh

• Kerstin Hellgren, Karolinska Institute

Individual Presentations

• Visual and Cognitive Function in Extremely Prematurely Born School-children - Presenting Author: Kerstin Hellgren, Karolinska Institute; Ulrika Aden, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; Eva Eklof, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; Lena Jacobson, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

• Motion and Form Perception in Children Born Extremely Pre-term - Presenting Author: Mariagrazia Benassi, University of Bologna; Roberto Bolzani, Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Italy; Kerstin Hellgren, Karolinska Institute

• Deficits in Mathematical Abilities and Approximate Number System Acuity in Children Born Extremely Pre-term - Presenting Author: Melissa E Libertus, Univ of Pittsburgh; Lea Forsman, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; Ulrika Aden, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; Kerstin Hellgren, Karolinska Institute

• Spontaneous Movements During Preterm and Early Postterm Age: A Marker for Cognitive Development?! - Presenting Author: Christa Einspieler, 1Research Unit iDN – interdisciplinary Developmental Neuroscience, Institute of Physiology, Medical University of Graz, Austria; Peter Marschik, Research Unit iDN – interdisciplinary Developmental Neuroscience, Institute of Physiology, Medical University of Graz, Austria; Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden; Arend Bos, University of Groningen