Abstract
Children born preterm (PT) are at risk for white matter injuries based on complications of prematurity. They learn to read but on average perform below peers born full term (FT). Studies have yet to establish whether properties of white matter pathways at the onset of learning to read are associated with individual variation later in reading development in PT children. Here, we asked whether fractional anisotropy (FA) at age 6 years is associated with reading outcome at age 8 years in PT children in the same pathways as previously demonstrated in a sample of FT children. PT (n = 34, mean gestational age = 29.5 weeks) and FT children (n = 37) completed diffusion MRI and standardized measures of non-verbal IQ, language, and phonological awareness at age 6 years. Reading skills were assessed at age 8 years. Mean tract-FA was extracted from pathways that predicted reading outcome in children born FT: left arcuate fasciculus (Arc), bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), and left inferior cerebellar peduncle (ICP). We explored associations in additional pathways in the PT children: bilateral inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, and uncinate fasciculus. Linear regression models examined whether the prediction of reading outcome at age 8 years based on mean tract-FA at age 6 years was moderated by birth group. Children born PT and FT did not differ significantly in tract-FA at age 6 years or in reading at age 8 years. Sex, socioeconomic status, and non-verbal IQ at age 6 years were associated with reading outcome and were included as covariates in all models. Birth group status significantly moderated associations between reading outcome and mean tract-FA only in the left Arc, right SLF, and left ICP, before and after consideration of pre-literacy skills. Microstructural properties of these cerebral and cerebellar pathways predicted later reading outcome in FT but not in PT children. Children born PT may rely on alternative pathways to achieve fluent reading. These findings have implications for plasticity of neural organization after early white matter injury.
Highlights
Neuroplasticity can be defined as the ability of the brain to reorganize itself
We successfully identified the tracts in all children with the following exceptions: the left AF could not be tracked in one full term (FT) child and the left inferior cerebellar peduncle (ICP) could not be tracked in one FT and three PT children
This study demonstrated that brain-reading relations were different in children born PT and FT
Summary
Neuroplasticity can be defined as the ability of the brain to reorganize itself. Neuroplasticity is essential for recovery from injury or disease and is fundamental for normal development from infancy to adulthood and for learning at any age. As an example of plasticity, studies have found that children with extensive pre- or perinatal injury to left hemisphere cortical brain regions that typically serve these functions can, develop normally after initial delays (Levine et al, 1987; Marchman et al, 1991; Feldman et al, 1992, 2002). We recently demonstrated that properties of specific white matter pathways at the onset of learning to read predicted later reading skills in a sample of children born full term (FT) (Borchers et al, 2019a). In order to explore neuroplasticity in relation to white matter, we sought to determine whether similar white matter-reading associations would be found in a longitudinal study of schoolaged children born PT
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