The Very Preterm Brain at Rest: Longitudinal Social-Cognitive Network Connectivity During Childhood.

Very preterm birth (VPT: ≤32 weeks gestational age) poses an increased risk for social and cognitive morbidities that persist throughout life. Resting state functional network connectivity studies provide information about the intrinsic capacity for cognitive processing. We studied four social-cognitive resting state networks: the default mode, salience, frontal-parietal and language networks. We examined functional connectivity using magnetoencephalography (MEG) with individual head localisation using each participant's MRI at 6 (n = 40) and 8 (n = 40) years of age compared to age and sex-matched full-term born (FT) children (n = 38 at 6 years and n = 43 at 8 years). VPT children showed increased connectivity compared to FT children in gamma band (30-80 Hz) at 6 years within the default mode network, and between the default mode network and the salience, frontal-parietal and language networks, pointing to more diffuse, less segregated processing across networks at this age. At 8 years, VPT children had more social and academic difficulties. Increased default mode network connectivity at 6 years was associated with social and working memory difficulties at 8 years. Therefore, we suggest that increased default mode network connectivity contributes to the observed emerging social and cognitive morbidities in school age.