Gray matter volumes of the superior temporal gyrus link preterm birth and developmentally disordered eye gazing patterns in toddlers at eighteen months.

Researchers studied brain scans and eye-tracking in 569 toddlers, comparing children born preterm versus full-term. Preterm children had larger brain areas involved in processing social information and showed different patterns of looking at faces and mouths. The brain differences present at birth appeared to predict how these children looked at social cues at 18 months old. This suggests preterm birth may affect brain development in ways that influence social attention skills.

This neuroimaging study examined 569 toddlers (~18 months) from the Developing Human Connectome Project, comparing 76 preterm and 493 term-born children. Brain scans collected at birth were analyzed alongside eye-tracking data at 18 months to assess social attention patterns. Preterm children showed increased gray matter volume in bilateral superior temporal gyri (STG) compared to term-born peers. Critically, right STG volume was negatively correlated with gestational age and positively associated with face and mouth viewing in preterm but not term children.

Path analysis suggested right STG volume at birth predicts preferential face/mouth viewing at 18 months in preterm children. The findings link earlier birth with atypical brain structure and eye-gazing patterns, potentially indicating altered social cognitive development pathways in preterm children.

Early brain imaging may help identify preterm children at risk for social cognitive differences. Findings suggest the need for specialized monitoring of social attention development in preterm children, though longitudinal research is needed to determine clinical significance and intervention needs.

Single time-point behavioral assessment, unclear generalizability beyond 18 months, need for longitudinal follow-up to establish clinical significance, and uncertainty about whether findings represent risk or adaptation in preterm children.

Preterm birth involves structural brain changes and increases the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, including social cognitive dysfunction as implicated in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, it remains unclear whether or how volumetric brain changes may impact the risk of social cognitive dysfunction in toddlers of preterm birth. We curated data of 569 toddlers approximately 18 months of age, including 76 with preterm (PB) and 493 with term (TB) birth, from the developing Human Connectome Project. We processed the imaging data, collected at birth, and investigated group differences in gray matter volume (GMV) of the brain and eye-tracking data collected at 18 months as well as the interrelationships amongst birth age, GMVs, and eye-tracking markers of ASD.

In a covariance analysis with age at scan, total intracranial volume, sex, and number of embryos at gestation as covariates, PB demonstrated higher GMV in bilateral superior temporal gyri (STG). Right STG GMV's were negatively correlated with birth age and positively with the proportion of looking at faces and mouths in PB, but not in TB. Further, path analyses suggested right STG GMV at birth as a marker of preferential face and mouth viewing in PB at 18 months. The findings associate earlier birth age with atypical volumetrics of the right STG and eye gazing patterns in preterm children at 18 months.

Longitudinal studies are needed to examine whether these neural and behavioral markers may reflect risks of social cognitive dysfunction in children with neurodevelopmental disorders, including ASD.