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. 2024 Sep;9(9):871-881.
doi: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.02.012. Epub 2024 Feb 28.

Associations Among Birth Weight, Adrenarche, Brain Morphometry, and Cognitive Function in Preterm Children Ages 9 to 11 Years

Weibin Ji  1 , Guanya Li  1 , Yang Hu  1 , Wenchao Zhang  1 , Jia Wang  1 , Fukun Jiang  1 , Yaqi Zhang  1 , Feifei Wu  1 , Xiaorong Wei  2 , Yuefeng Li  3 , Xinbo Gao  4 , Peter Manza  5 , Nora D Volkow  5 , Gene-Jack Wang  6 , Yi Zhang  7
Affiliations

Associations Among Birth Weight, Adrenarche, Brain Morphometry, and Cognitive Function in Preterm Children Ages 9 to 11 Years

Weibin Ji et al. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2024 Sep.

Abstract

Background: Preterm infants with low birth weight are at heightened risk of developmental sequelae, including neurological and cognitive dysfunction that can persist into adolescence or adulthood. In addition, preterm birth and low birth weight can provoke changes in endocrine and metabolic processes that likely impact brain health throughout development. However, few studies have examined associations among birth weight, pubertal endocrine processes, and long-term neurological and cognitive development.

Methods: We investigated the associations between birth weight and brain morphometry, cognitive function, and onset of adrenarche assessed 9 to 11 years later in 3571 preterm and full-term children using the ABCD (Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development) Study dataset.

Results: The preterm children showed lower birth weight and early adrenarche, as expected. Birth weight was positively associated with cognitive function (all Cohen's d > 0.154, p < .005), global brain volumes (all Cohen's d > 0.170, p < .008), and regional volumes in frontal, temporal, and parietal cortices in preterm and full-term children (all Cohen's d > 0.170, p < .0007); cortical volume in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex partially mediated the effect of low birth weight on cognitive function in preterm children. In addition, adrenal score and cortical volume in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex mediated the associations between birth weight and cognitive function only in preterm children.

Conclusions: These findings highlight the impact of low birth weight on long-term brain structural and cognitive function development and show important associations with early onset of adrenarche during the puberty. This understanding may help with prevention and treatment.

Keywords: ABCD; Adrenarche; Cognition; Preterm birth; Puberty; Structural neuroimaging.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures

The authors declare no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Effect sizes of associations among birthweight, global/cortical volumes, and cognitive function.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Association between birthweight and onset of adrenarche in the preterm and control group. Lg: log-transformed. A. Group Difference of Birth Weight and Onset of Adrenarche B. Correlation between Birth Weight and Onset of Adrenarche
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Association between adrenal score and cognitive function, regional cortical volumes in preterm group. A. Effect Sizes of Association between Adrenal Score and Cognitive Function B. Association between Adrenal Score and Regional Cortical Volumes
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Mediation analysis of birthweight, onset of adrenarche, lateral orbitofrontal cortex, and cognitive function. Note. Significant effects: * P<0.05, **P<0.01, *** P<0.001. A. Mediation Model Demonstrating Associations among Birth Weight, Lateral Orbitofrontal Cortex, and Cognitive Function B. Serial Two-mediation Model Demonstrating Associations among Birth Weight, Onset of Adrenarche, Lateral Orbitofrontal Cortex, and Cognitive Function
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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