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Preterm birth associated with decreased memory function
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Children born prematurely may not recollect contextual memories as readily as children born full term, according to study findings in Child Development.
“Children born preterm are at high risk for later cognitive impairment due to brain injuries or uncompleted intrauterine brain maturation,” according to study researcher Kerstin H. Kipp, PhD, of the University of Ulm in Germany, and colleagues. “Studies examining declarative memory in preterm children have come to inconsistent results ranging from clear memory deficits to normal performance.”
To assess cognitive differences between preterm and full-term children, Kipp and colleagues used MRI to measure hippocampal volumes and administered a memory task to children aged 8 to 10 years, 18 of which had a gestational age of 26 to 33 weeks and 15 with a gestational age of 39 to 42 weeks.
The memory task consisted of two phases. Children viewed 60 colored pictures of everyday objects and assigned them to their respective location (outside vs. inside) under a time limit. They then completed a simple arithmetic task during a 1-minute retention interval. In the second phase, children viewed and assigned locations to the 60 images they previously saw plus 60 new images.
Imaging analysis indicated children born prematurely had a smaller normalized hippocampal volume for the left (P<.05) and right (P=.06) hippocampus compared with children born full-term.
Gestational age and event-related potential (ERP) estimates of recollection were positively associated (P<.01), according to researchers. ERP estimates of familiarity were negatively correlated with gestational age (P=.06).
General cognitive deficits did not contribute to these findings, according to results from a follow-up trial.
“Notably, even though the preterm group showed an attenuated ERP correlate of recollection in the non-speeded condition, memory performance in this group was equivalent to the control group,” the researchers wrote. “Similar disassociations between attenuated ERP measures and unimpaired memory performance have been reported in other patient studies, suggesting that behavioral measures of memory performance are not sensitive enough to detect the highly specific and subtle memory modifications in preterm children.”
The sub-process of recollection, in which preterm children were lacking, may be missed by usual memory assessments, according to a press release. Thus, the study findings may indicate a need for changing treatment of children born prematurely.
“Our results have important implications for improving the treatment of children born preterm. Instead of applying unspecific memory training, the affected children might benefit more from learning how to strengthen associations between different elements of memories,” Kipp said in the release.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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