Postnatal corpus callosum microstructural deviations are linked to neurobehavioral outcomes in preterm infants.
4 affiliations
- 1State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
- 2State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China; Faculty of Psychology, Tianjin Normal University, Tianjin, 300387, China.
- 3Department of Neurology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA; Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
- 4State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Brain Imaging and Connectomics, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China; Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, 102206, China. Electronic address: [email protected].
Abstract
The neonatal period surrounding term represents a critical window for corpus callosum (CC) maturation, when axonal growth, pre-myelination, and fiber organization rapidly advance to support emerging motor and cognitive functions, yet preterm birth disrupts this process with unclear mechanisms and long-term consequences. To address this gap, we employed a normative modeling framework, based on a large term-born cohort, to characterize segment-specific CC developmental trajectories and then quantify individual deviations in preterm infants at term-equivalent age (TEA). Preterm infants exhibited selective CC microstructural abnormalities-most pronounced in the genu, anterior body, and splenium-while midsagittal area remained within normative limits. Using partial least squares correlation, we examined associations with neurobehavioral outcomes during toddler period and identified a multivariate brain-behavior coupling unique to the preterm cohort. Specifically, higher gross motor and cognitive scores but lower fine motor score were linked to a coordinated CC profile of increased anisotropy, higher splenial neurite density, reduced diffusivity, and lower genu orientation dispersion. This relationship was absent in term-born controls. These findings suggest that microstructure-informed deviation mapping at TEA may be sensitive to subtle CC alterations that are not apparent on macrostructural measures and are associated with later functional outcomes. This sensitivity to subtle and outcome-related variation highlights the value of this approach as a complement to conventional imaging, and lays the groundwork for future efforts to characterize early white matter development and identify preterm infants at elevated neurodevelopmental risk.
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BibTeX
@article{wang2026postnatal,
title = {{Postnatal corpus callosum microstructural deviations are linked to neurobehavioral outcomes in preterm infants.}},
author = {Wei Wang and Liyuan Yang and Ke Wu and Shanqi Li and Shaoling Peng and Gaolang Gong},
journal = {Developmental cognitive neuroscience},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101839},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42887087},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Postnatal corpus callosum microstructural deviations are linked to neurobehavioral outcomes in preterm infants.
AU - Wei Wang
AU - Liyuan Yang
AU - Ke Wu
AU - Shanqi Li
AU - Shaoling Peng
AU - Gaolang Gong
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/11
JO - Developmental cognitive neuroscience
DO - 10.1016/j.dcn.2026.101839
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42887087
AB - The neonatal period surrounding term represents a critical window for corpus callosum (CC) maturation, when axonal growth, pre-myelination, and fiber organization rapidly advance to support emerging motor and cognitive functions, yet preterm birth disrupts this process with unclear mechanisms and long-term consequences. To address this gap, we employed a normative modeling framework, based on a large term-born cohort, to characterize segment-specific CC developmental trajectories and then quantify individual deviations in preterm infants at term-equivalent age (TEA). Preterm infants exhibited selective CC microstructural abnormalities-most pronounced in the genu, anterior body, and splenium-while midsagittal area remained within normative limits. Using partial least squares correlation, we examined associations with neurobehavioral outcomes during toddler period and identified a multivariate brain-behavior coupling unique to the preterm cohort. Specifically, higher gross motor and cognitive scores but lower fine motor score were linked to a coordinated CC profile of increased anisotropy, higher splenial neurite density, reduced diffusivity, and lower genu orientation dispersion. This relationship was absent in term-born controls. These findings suggest that microstructure-informed deviation mapping at TEA may be sensitive to subtle CC alterations that are not apparent on macrostructural measures and are associated with later functional outcomes. This sensitivity to subtle and outcome-related variation highlights the value of this approach as a complement to conventional imaging, and lays the groundwork for future efforts to characterize early white matter development and identify preterm infants at elevated neurodevelopmental risk.
SN - 1878-9293
SN - 1878-9307
ER -