Long-term deficits of preterm birth: Evidence for arousal and attentional disturbances.
March 29th, 2008 | by admin |Long-term deficits of preterm birth: Evidence for arousal and attentional disturbances.
OBJECTIVE: Quantitative measures of pre-attentional, attentional and frontal lobe processes were compared to evaluate quantitative measures of these deficits in Ex-Preterm vs. Ex-Term adolescents. METHODS: We compared 43 Ex-Preterm with 26 Ex-Term adolescents using the P50 auditory potential, the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT), a reaction time (RT) test, and Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS). RESULTS: The mean amplitude (+/-SE) of the P50 amplitude was similar in the Ex-Preterm (1.8+/-1.4muV) vs. Ex-Term adolescents (1.8+/-0.6muV, df=68, F=0.05, p=0.8), but the Ex-Preterm group showed a trimodal distribution in amplitude (High, 3.3+/-0.4muV, df=42.25, F=19.2, p<0.01; Medium, 1.7+/-0.1muV, df=39, F=0.41, p=0.53; Low, 0.7+/-0.1muV, df=40, F=49.5, p<0.01) suggested by statistically significant variance between populations (Kolmogorov-Kuiper test, df=42.25, F=5.4, p<0.01). Mean RT was longer in Ex-Preterm (250+/-8ms) vs. Ex-Term subjects (200+/-5ms, df=68, F=18.8, p<0.001). PVT lapses were increased in Ex-Preterm subjects, and varied inversely with P50 amplitude (Overall Mean 17+/-5 lapses, df=67, F=5.34, p<0.05; Low P50 amplitude, 25+/-10, df=40, F=8.8, p<0.01; Medium, 21+/-11, df=38, F=5.37, p<0.05; High, 6+/-2, df=39, F=6.78, p<0.01) vs. Ex-Term subjects (2+/-0.4 lapses, p<0.01). NIRS levels did not differ statistically, but tended to correlate with P50 amplitude in the Ex-Preterm group. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest differential pre-attentional, attentional and frontal lobe dysfunction in Ex-Preterm adolescents. SIGNIFICANCE: These measures could provide a means to objectively assess differential dysregulation of arousal and attention in Ex-Preterm adolescents, allowing optimization of therapeutic designs.
Hall RW, Huitt TW, Thapa R, Williams DK, Anand KJ, Garcia-Rill E.
Center for Translational Neuroscience, Department of Neurobiology & Developmental Sciences, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, Slot 512 B, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W Markham, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA.