Infants born preterm are at high risk of long-term motor and neurocognitive deficits. In the majority of these infants structural MRI at the time of normal birth does not predict motor or cognitive outcomes accurately, and many infants without apparent brain lesions later develop motor and cognitive deficits. Thalamocortical connections are known to be necessary for normal brain function; they develop during late fetal life and are vulnerable to perinatal adversity. This study addressed the hypothesis that abnormalities in the functional connectivity between cortex and thalamus underlie neurocognitive impairments seen after preterm birth. Using resting state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a group of 102 very preterm infants without major focal brain lesions, we used partial correlations between thalamus and functionally-derived cortical areas to determine significant connectivity between cortical areas and thalamus, and correlated the parameter estimates of these connections with standardised neurocognitive assessments in each infant at 20 months of age. Pre-motor association cortex connectivity to thalamus correlates with motor function, while connectivity between primary sensory-motor cortex and thalamus correlates with cognitive scores. These results demonstrate the importance and vulnerability of functional thalamocortical connectivity development in the perinatal period for later neurocognitive functioning.

早产儿出现长期运动和神经认知缺陷的风险很高。对于大多数婴儿，正常出生时的结构 MRI 不能准确预测运动或认知结果，许多没有明显脑损伤的婴儿后来会出现运动和认知缺陷。众所周知，丘脑皮质连接对于正常的大脑功能是必需的。它们在胎儿晚期发育，很容易受到围产期逆境的影响。这项研究提出了这样的假设：皮质和丘脑之间的功能连接异常是早产后神经认知障碍的基础。我们对 102 名没有重大局灶性脑损伤的极早产儿进行静息态功能连接磁共振成像 (fMRI)，利用丘脑和功能衍生皮质区域之间的部分相关性来确定皮质区域和丘脑之间的显着连接性，并将这些与每个 20 个月大婴儿的标准化神经认知评估之间的联系的参数估计。前运动关联皮层与丘脑的连接与运动功能相关，而初级感觉运动皮层与丘脑之间的连接与认知得分相关。这些结果证明了围产期功能性丘脑皮质连接发展对后期神经认知功能的重要性和脆弱性。