Grant: Project Grant

An estimated 1% of Canadian children are born very preterm (VPT; < 32 weeks gestational age), placing them at risk for cognitive and behavioral challenges. The most common cognitive complaint in children born VPT is attention difficulties, which are estimated to affect 30-40% of children. In early childhood, attention skills mature rapidly and help children to succeed as they start schooling. In children born VPT, however, difficulties in attention have been linked to lower academic success. It is therefore important to better understand what puts children born VPT at risk for attention problems and to find ways to support the development of attention skills in young children. Based on our previous research, we believe that there may be alterations in brain networks in children born VPT that predispose them to attention difficulties. To test this, we will use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure brain networks in children aged 4-6 years, and a battery of cognitive tests to measure attention skills. These data will be analyzed to better understand how differences in brain networks make children born VPT vulnerable to attention difficulties. Computer programs can be used to train attention skills in children, but previous studies in children born VPT have found that some children benefit more than others from these programs. We believe that differences in the brain might predispose some children to benfit more from these programs. To test this, half of the children in our study will complete a 12-week computerized cognitive training program, while the other half will play educational computer games for a similar duration. We will then use measures of brain function and structure to predict greater improvement in attention skills. Our long-term goal is to use knowledge from this study to improve nonpharmacological therapies targeting attention problems for young children born VPT, so that being born early does not limit a child's potential.