Disconnected neuromagnetic networks in children born very preterm: Disconnected MEG networks in preterm children

• We recorded resting-state magnetoencephalography in school-age children born very preterm and healthy children.
• We examine functional connectivity across a wide frequency spectrum in brain space.
• Global reductions in neural synchrony were detected in children born very preterm.
• These reductions encompass networks related to executive function and overall cognitive flexibility.
• These effects may be relevant to cognitive and behavioural difficulties reported in the ex-preterm population.

Many children born very preterm (≤32 weeks) experience significant cognitive difficulties, but the biological basis of such problems has not yet been determined. Functional MRI studies have implicated altered functional connectivity; however, little is known regarding the spatiotemporal organization of brain networks in this population. We provide the first examination of resting-state neuromagnetic connectivity mapped in brain space in school age children born very preterm. Thirty-four subjects (age range 7–12 years old), consisting of 17 very preterm-born children and 17 full-term born children were included. Very preterm-born children exhibited global decreases in inter-regional synchrony in all analysed frequency ranges, from theta (4–7 Hz) to high gamma (80–150 Hz; p < 0.01, corrected). These reductions were expressed in spatially and frequency specific brain networks (p < 0.0005, corrected). Our results demonstrate that mapping connectivity with high spatiotemporal resolution offers new insights into altered organization of neurophysiological networks which may contribute to the cognitive difficulties in this vulnerable population.