The case of late preterm birth: sliding forwards the critical window for cognitive outcome risk

Many survivors of preterm birth experience neurodevelopmental disabilities, such as cerebral palsy, visual and hearing problems. However, even in the absence of major neurological complications, premature babies show significant neuropsychological and behavioural deficits during childhood and beyond. While the clinical tools routinely used to assess neurocognitive development in those infants have been useful in detecting major clinical complications in early infancy, they have not been equally sensitive in identifying subtle cognitive impairments emerging during childhood. These methodological concerns become even more relevant when considering the case of late preterm children (born between 34 and 36 gestational weeks). Although these children have been traditionally considered as having similar risks for developmental problems as neonates born at term, a recent line of research has provided growing evidence that even late preterm children display altered structural and functional brain maturation, with potential life-long implications for neurocognitive functioning. A recent study by Heinonen put forward the hypothesis that environmental factors, in this case educational attainment, could moderate the association between late preterm birth (LPT) and neuropsychological impairments commonly associated with aging. In this paper we bring together clinical literature and recent neuroimaging evidence in order to provide two different but complementary approaches for a better understanding of the "nature-nurture" interplay underlying the lifespan neurocognitive development of preterm babies

Spatiotemporally dissociable neural signatures for generating and updating expectation over time in children: A High Density-ERP study

Temporal orienting (TO) is the allocation of attentional resources in time based on the a priori generation of temporal expectancy of relevant stimuli as well as the a posteriori updating of this expectancy as a function of both sensory-based evidence and elapsing time. These processes rely on dissociable cognitive mechanisms and neural networks. Yet, although there is evidence that TO may be a core mechanism for cognitive functioning in childhood, the developmental spatiotemporal neural dynamics of this mechanism are little understood. In this study we employed a combined approach based on the application of distributed source reconstruction on a high spatial resolution ERP data array obtained from eighteen 8- to 12-year-old children completing a TO paradigm in which both the cue (Temporal vs. Neutral) and the SOA (Short vs. Long) were manipulated. Results show both cue (N1) and SOA (CNV, Omission Detection Potential and Anterior Anticipatory Index) ERP effects, which were associated with expectancy generation and updating, respectively. Only cue-related effects were correlated with age, as revealed by a reduction of the N1 delta effect with increasing age. Our data suggest that the neural correlates underlying TO are already established at least from 8 to 12 years of age

Spatiotemporal neurodynamics of automatic temporal expectancy in 9-month old infants

open2noAnticipating events occurrence (Temporal Expectancy) is a crucial capacity for survival. Yet, there is little evidence about the presence of cortical anticipatory activity from infancy. In this study we recorded the High-density electrophysiological activity in 9 month-old infants and adults undergoing an audio-visual S1-S2 paradigm simulating a lifelike "Peekaboo" game inducing automatic temporal expectancy of smiling faces. The results indicate in the S2-preceding Contingent Negative Variation (CNV) an early electrophysiological signature of expectancy-based anticipatory cortical activity. Moreover, the progressive CNV amplitude increasing across the task suggested that implicit temporal rule learning is at the basis of expectancy building-up over time. Cortical source reconstruction suggested a common CNV generator between adults and infants in the right prefrontal cortex. The decrease in the activity of this area across the task (time-on-task effect) further implied an early, core role of this region in implicit temporal rule learning. By contrast, a time-on-task activity boost was found in the supplementary motor area (SMA) in adults and in the temporoparietal regions in infants. Altogether, our findings suggest that the capacity of the human brain to translate temporal predictions into anticipatory neural activity emerges ontogenetically early, although the underlying spatiotemporal cortical dynamics change across development. © 2016 The Author(s).openMento, Giovanni; Valenza, EloisaMento, Giovanni; Valenza, Elois

Developmental trajectories of internally and externally driven temporal prediction

The ability to generate temporal prediction (TP) is fundamental to our survival since it allows us to selectively orient our attention in time in order to prioritize relevant environmental information. Studies on adult participants showed that externally and internally driven mechanisms can be engaged to establish TP, both resulting in better behavioural performance. However, few studies on children have investigated the ability to engage internally and externally driven TP, especially in relation to how these mechanisms change across development. In this study, 111 participants (88 children between six and eleven years of age, and 23 adults) were tested by means of a simple reaction time paradigm, in which temporal cueing and neutral conditions were orthogonally manipulated to induce externally and internally driven TP mechanisms, as well as an interaction between the two. Sequential effects (SEs) relative to both tasks were also investigated. Results showed that all children participating in the study were able to implement both external and internal TP in an independent fashion. However, children younger than eight years were not able to combine both strategies. Furthermore, in the temporal cueing blocks they did not show the typically-observed asymmetric SE pattern. These results suggest that children can flexibly use both external and internal TP mechanisms to optimise their behaviour, although their successful combined use develops only after eight years of age

When does right functional hemispheric lateralization arise? Evidence from preterm infants

In recent years, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has allowed researchers to individuate an earlier morphological development of the right hemisphere compared to the left hemisphere before birth. Anatomical asymmetry, however, does not necessarily mean functional asymmetry and whether the anatomical differences between hemispheres at this early age are paralleled by functional specializations is still unknown. Here we show electrophysiological evidence of an early functional right lateralization for pitch processing arising by 30 gestational weeks, not before, in preterm newborns

Spatiotemporal Neurodynamics Underlying Internally and Externally Driven Temporal Prediction: A High Spatial Resolution ERP Study

Temporal prediction (TP) is a flexible and dynamic cognitive ability. Depending on the internal or external nature of information exploited to generate TP, distinct cognitive and brain mechanisms are engaged with the same final goal of reducing uncertainty about the future. In this study, we investigated the specific brain mechanisms involved in internally and externally driven TP. To this end, we employed an experimental paradigm purposely designed to elicit and compare externally and internally driven TP and a combined approach based on the application of a distributed source reconstruction modeling on a high spatial resolution electrophysiological data array. Specific spatiotemporal ERP signatures were identified, with significant modulation of contingent negative variation and frontal late sustained positivity in external and internal TP contexts, respectively. These different electrophysiological patterns were supported by the engagement of distinct neural networks, including a left sensorimotor and a prefrontal circuit for externally and internally driven TP, respectively

Socio-emotional and cognitive development in intrauterine growth restricted (IUGR) and typical development infants: Early interactive patterns and underlying neural correlates. Rationale and methods of the study

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is defined as a fetal growth retardation, resulting in an estimated fetal weight less than the 10th centile for gestational age. IUGR developing brain is affected by the atypical fetal growth, presenting altered structure and connectivity and increased risk for neurodevelopmental impairments. Behaviorally, IUGR infants show reduced responsiveness and engagement with human faces during mother-child exchanges. The neural mechanisms of these patterns of interactions remain unexplored, as well as their potential role in shaping socio-cognitive trajectories of development. Aim of this research project will be to longitudinally investigate mother-infant interactions and infant's event-related potential (ERP) components of face processing (infant N170, P400, Negative central) in 4 and 9 months IUGR as potential early markers of expected atypical cognitive and behavioral outcomes observed at 12 months. Thirty IUGR participants will be recruited after receiving the in utero diagnosis (>28th gestational week). Thirty healthy infants will be enrolled as the control group. Maternal environment will be assessed via Emotional Availability Scales (EASs), with child responsiveness and maternal sensitivity as variables of interest. Infants' scalp-recorded cortical activity in response to social and non-social stimuli will be investigated using a high-density EEG system (EGI Geodesic system). Neurodevelopment will be measured at 12 months of child's life, using Bayley Scales for Infant Development (BSID), while the possible presence of emotional-behavioral problems will be rated via Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). We expect that being IUGR significantly affects cognitive and behavioral outcomes, through mediation effects of both infants' neural and behavioral capacity to respond to social stimuli. Indeed, we expect an altered response to social stimuli in IUGR infants, resulting in smaller ERP components amplitude in response to human faces compared to healthy matched peers. A significant association between neural response to social stimuli and infants' responsiveness to maternal stimulation during interactions is expected, with impoverished performances on the interactive domain in IUGR, compared to healthy peers. This study will enhance understanding on neural mechanisms underpinning the interactive patterns sustaining socio-cognitive development in IUGR and healthy infants. The study will help in clarifying the role of postnatal environment in buffering the vulnerability experienced by children delayed in their fetal growth

Faces do not guide attention in an object-based facilitation manner

Numerous studies on face processing have revealed their special ability to affect attention, but relatively little research has been done on how faces guide spatial attention allocation. To enrich this field, this study resorted to the object-based attention (OBA) effect in a modified double-rectangle paradigm where the rectangles were replaced with human faces and mosaic patterns (non-face objects). Experiment 1 replicated the typical OBA effect in the non-face objects, but this effect was absent in Asian and Caucasian faces. Experiment 2 removed the eye region from Asian faces, but still found no object-based facilitation in the faces without eyes. In Experiment 3, the OBA effect was also observed for faces when the faces disappear a short period before the responses. Overall, these results revealed that when two faces are presented together, they do not exert object-based facilitation regardless of their facial features such as race and the presence of eyes. We argue that the lack of a typical OBA effect is due to the filtering cost induced by the entire face content. This cost slows down the response when attention shifts within a face and results in the absence of object-based facilitation

Exposure to linguistic labels during childhood modulates the neural architecture of race categorical perception

Perceptually categorizing a face to its racial belonging may have important consequences on interacting with people. However, race categorical perception (CP) has been scarcely investigated nor its developmental pathway. In this study, we tested the neurolinguistics rewiring hypothesis, stating that language acquisition modulates the brain processing of social perceptual categories. Accordingly, we investigated the electrophysiological correlates of race CP in a group of adults and children between 3 and 5 years of age. For both groups we found a greater modulation of the N400 connected with the processing of between category boundaries (i.e., faces belonging to different race groups) than within-category boundaries (i.e., different faces belonging to the same race group). This effect was the same in both adults and children, as shown by the comparable between-group amplitude of the differential wave (DW) elicited by the between-category faces. Remarkably, this effect was positively correlated with racial-labels acquisition, but not with age, in children. Finally, brain source analysis revealed the activation of a more modularized cortical network in adults than in children, with unique activation of the left superior temporal gyrus (STG) and the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), which are areas connected to language processing. These are the first results accounting for an effect of language in rewiring brain connectedness when processing racial categories