{
  "abstract": "Understanding how brain maturation unfolds in preterm neonates is critical for both neuroscience and clinical care. Structural MRI suggests that the frontal cortex develop late, yet EEG offers a direct window into functional activity that follows a different trajectory. We analysed 211 EEG recordings from 62 preterm neonates (25-40 weeks postmenstrual age, PMA) using convolutional neural networks trained on single channels to estimate functional brain age (FBA). We introduced the spatial difference in FBA (sd_FBA) metric, which quantifies the relative maturity of each channel compared with all others within a recording. sd_FBA revealed a consistent maturation gradient, frontal regions exhibited the highest sd_FBA, followed by central regions, whereas occipital and temporal regions showed lower values. With increasing PMA, central maturation converged with frontal values, while occipital regions remained significantly lower. Functional maturation in preterm infants follows a clear frontal-occipital gradient, in contrast to structural MRI findings. The sd_FBA metric provides a novel, normalized index for tracking regional maturation, offering a new tool to understand functional brain development and potentially improve neurodevelopmental risk stratification.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Division of Neonatology, Pediatric Intensive Care and Neuropediatrics, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Comprehensive Center for Pediatrics (CCP), Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Center for Health & Bioresources, AIT (Austrian Institute of Technology), Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: Johannes.mader@meduniwien.ac.at.",
    "Center for Health & Bioresources, AIT (Austrian Institute of Technology), Vienna, Austria.",
    "Division of Neonatology, Pediatric Intensive Care and Neuropediatrics, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Comprehensive Center for Pediatrics (CCP), Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.",
    "Division of Neonatology, Pediatric Intensive Care and Neuropediatrics, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Comprehensive Center for Pediatrics (CCP), Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; Member of the ERN EpiCare, Lyon, France.",
    "Karl Landsteiner Institute for Clinical Epilepsy Research and Cognitive Neurology, Vienna, Austria; Department of Neurology, Clinic Hietzing, Vienna, Austria.",
    "Department of Radiology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 14,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Johannes Mader"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Manfred Hartmann"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Katrin Klebermass-Schrehof"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Tobias Werther"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Anastasia Dressler"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Johannes Koren"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Gregor Kasprian",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-3858-3347"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5
      ],
      "name": "Victor Schmidbauer"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Renate Fuiko"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Lisa Oberdorfer"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Nadine Pointner"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Angelika Berger",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-8775-2405"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Tilmann Kluge"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Vito Giordano"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2agct14vrq17g.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101830",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13673055",
  "id": "2agct14vrq17g",
  "issns": [
    "1878-9293",
    "1878-9307"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42833058",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2735|Infant Development and Preterm Care"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7216381068",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13673055?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13673055",
  "pmid": "42833058",
  "published": "2026-10-02",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2agct14vrq17g.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:10Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42833058",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42833058"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2735|Infant Development and Preterm Care",
      "subfield": "reproductive-child"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Frontal lead in preterm functional brain maturation.",
  "title_text": "Frontal lead in preterm functional brain maturation.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:18:10Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2agct14vrq17g",
  "venue": "Developmental cognitive neuroscience",
  "versions": []
}