Premature Infants May Be More Likely to Develop ADHD, Autism

Sunday, November 01, 2015 Unknown 0 Comments

Babies born prematurely showed brain patterns that might predict future developmental problems.

By Penny Williams

Science hasn’t isolated the causes of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Genetics, pesticides, pollution, diet, and smoking or drinking during pregnancy have all been implicated. A new study at the Washington University Neonatal Development Research Lab indicates that babies born prematurely may be at particular risk.

Doctors studying babies born full-term and babies born 10 weeks or more premature have discovered some early signals in preemies who could have developmental or psychological disorders. Usually these disorders have no symptoms until the child is 3 to 5 years old.

The researchers studied functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of 58 babies born full-term and 76 infants born 10 weeks or more premature. Each full-term baby was scanned within a couple days of birth while the premature infants were scanned within a few days of what would have been their full-term due date.