Gray matter volumes of the superior temporal gyrus link preterm birth and developmentally disordered eye gazing patterns in toddlers at eighteen months

Abstract

Background: Preterm birth involves structural brain changes and increases the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, including social cognitive dysfunction as implicated in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, it remains unclear whether or how volumetric brain changes may impact the risk of social cognitive dysfunction in toddlers of preterm birth.

Methods: We curated data of 569 toddlers approximately 18 months of age, including 76 with preterm (PB) and 493 with term (TB) birth, from the developing Human Connectome Project. We processed the imaging data, collected at birth, and investigated group differences in gray matter volume (GMV) of the brain and eye-tracking data collected at 18 months as well as the interrelationships amongst birth age, GMVs, and eye-tracking markers of ASD.

Results: In a covariance analysis with age at scan, total intracranial volume, sex, and number of embryos at gestation as covariates, PB demonstrated higher GMV in bilateral superior temporal gyri (STG). Right STG GMV's were negatively correlated with birth age and positively with the proportion of looking at faces and mouths in PB, but not in TB. Further, path analyses suggested right STG GMV at birth as a marker of preferential face and mouth viewing in PB at 18 months.

Conclusions: The findings associate earlier birth age with atypical volumetrics of the right STG and eye gazing patterns in preterm children at 18 months. Longitudinal studies are needed to examine whether these neural and behavioral markers may reflect risks of social cognitive dysfunction in children with neurodevelopmental disorders, including ASD.

Keywords: Autism; Eye tracking; Face perception; Preterm; Structural imaging.