Pregnancy situations have impact on brain development in pre-term infants
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008Brain development in infants who are born very prematurely is still incomplete. Factors that cause premature birth may have an impact on the development of the premature infant’s brain both during pregnancy and later on after birth. A project conducted as part of the Academy of Finland Research Programme on Neuroscience (NEURO) is concerned to study brain growth and development invery premature or low-weight infants.
The central nervous system in small premature infants is highly susceptible to damage as the immature organism tries to adapt to the intensive care environment following release from the intrauterine environment. Scientists working on the PIPARI project at Turku University Central Hospital have followed premature low-weight infants and investigated factors impacting the growth and development of their brain as well as their two-year prognosis from pregnancy onwards. A total of 232 pre-term infants have been followed and compared to 246 full-term controls. The children will be followed for a total of six years, from birth through to school age.
The results of the project indicate that the redistribution of foetal blood flow, indicative of placental insufficiency, leads to smaller brain volume in preterm infants at term equivalent age. In this situation the foetus directs a larger proportion of the blood flow to its brain.
