Grant: Project Grant

In Canada, as in other high resource countries, very preterm birth (2- 4 months early) is one of the most important causes of disability. Among children born very preterm more than half show significant developmental concerns and challenges with cognitive abilities, motor skills, and anxiety and depressive behaviour, impacting the child, family and society. Common experiences during hospitalization in the neonatal intensive care unit such as infections, lengthy support for breathing problems and numerous painful procedures have been identified as early risk factors associated with brain and cognitive development. While abnormal brain development is evident in these very preterm children, little is known about why some do well and others have problems, even when born at the same range of prematurity. Adolescence is a period of major brain maturation, as well as social development. We propose to follow a group of very preterm children to adolescence. These children have already been assessed as newborns and as children with detailed MRI studies of their brain growth. These children have also been examined at 1.5, 3, 4.5 and 8 years of age to assess their cognitive abilities, motor skills and behaviour. Re-examining them as teenagers provides a unique opportunity to assess the trajectory of their development, their social development, to understand how they define their own competence. New MRI scans will allow us to identify the brain changes underlying these issues. Understanding factors that explain the wide variation in neurodevelopmental outcomes in teenagers born preterm, will support strategies and interventions that promote long-term neurodevelopment in this population.