The Early Motor Repertoire in Preterm Infancy and Cognition in Young Adulthood: Preliminary Findings.

Sahar Salavati,Christa Einspieler,Janneke L.M Bruggink,Arend F Bos,Maraike A Coenen,Jacoba M Spikman,Anne E Den Heijer

doi:10.1017/s1355617721001351

Abstract

Preterm birth poses a risk to cognition during childhood. The resulting cognitive problems may persist into young adulthood. The early motor repertoire in infancy is predictive of neurocognitive development in childhood. Our present aim was to investigate whether it also predicts neurocognitive status in young adulthood. We conducted an explorative observational follow-up study in 37 young adults born at a gestational age of less than 35 weeks and/or with a birth weight below 1200 g. Between 1992 and 1997, these individuals were videotaped up until 3 months' corrected age to assess the quality of their early motor repertoire according to Prechtl. The assessment includes general movements, fidgety movements (FMs), and a motor optimality score (MOS). In young adulthood, the following cognitive domains were assessed: memory, speed of information processing, language, attention, and executive function. Participants in whom FMs were absent in infancy obtained lower scores on memory, speed of information processing, and attention than those with normal FMs. Participants with aberrant FMs, that is, absent or abnormal, obtained poorer scores on memory, speed of information processing speed, attention, and executive function compared to peers who had normal FMs. A higher MOS was associated with better executive function. The quality of the early motor repertoire is associated with performance in various cognitive domains in young adulthood. This knowledge may be applied to enable the timely recognition of preterm-born individuals at risk of cognitive dysfunctions.

Highlights

Preterm birth poses a risk to cognitive performance that becomes manifest during childhood
Four were diagnosed with cerebral palsy (CP) (11%; Gross Motor Function Classification System, GMFCS, I-II (n = 2), III, and IV)
This study demonstrates that there are several associations between the early motor repertoire and cognitive functioning in preterm-born young adults

Summary

Introduction

Preterm birth poses a risk to cognitive performance that becomes manifest during childhood. The resulting problems can be diagnosed as a lower level of intelligence compared to that of term-born peers, as reflected by low verbal and performance IQ scores (Twilhaar et al, 2018). Developmental delays in general and academic difficulties are often observed (Twilhaar et al, 2018). Specific cognitive domains, such as attention and working memory, are known to be affected in preterm-born children (Aarnoudse-Moens, Weisglas-Kuperus, Van Goudoever, & Oosterlaan, 2009; Allotey et al, 2018; Anderson & Doyle, 2003; Saigal & Doyle, 2008).

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