Preterm Babies' Brains Catch up with Term-Born Peers' During Adolescence, Study

A new study shows that by the time preterm babies become teenagers, their brains work almost as well as their term-born peers.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Adelaide, is good news to parents of preterm children. Research has shown that some children born before term have several physical and mental health problems. The latest study finds that preterm babies' brain works just as well as brains of babies who were born full-term.

The study is published in The Journal of Pediatrics. It was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

The research also shows that home environment can positively affect children's coginitive abilities later in life.

"This new study has some positive news. We looked at the factors that determine cognitive abilities in early adolescence, and found that whether or not you were born preterm appears to play a relatively minor role. Of significantly more importance is the degree of social disadvantage you experienced in your early life after birth, although genetics is important," Dr Julia Pitcher from the University of Adelaide's Robinson Research Institute, said in a news release.

The small study was conducted on 145 preterm and term-born children, who are now 12 years old. Researchers looked at cognitive abilities of the children as well as the socioeconomic status of their families.

The team found that post-natal environment played an important role in shaping cognitive abilities of the children.

"Reduced connectivity in the brain, associated with microstructural abnormalities from preterm birth, is likely contributing to the cognitive deficits in these children [preterm babies]. But these abnormalities seem to be amenable to improvement depending on the environment the child grows up in, particularly as an infant, and might account for why some preterm children do better than others," Schneider said in a news release.

Schneider said that further research is needed to identify specific environmental factors that contribute to cognitive abilities of preterm children, The Australian reported.

Babies born before 37 weeks of pregnancy are preterm babies, according to the World Health Organization. These babies suffer from a high risk of early death.