Abstract #0736

Counsell S, Dyet L, Larkman D, Edwards A, Rutherford M, Hajnal J, Nunes R, Allsop J, Fitzpatrick J, Cowan F, Boardman J, Srinivasan L

The aim of this study was to visualise connectivity in the brain of infants who were born preterm. We studied twelve infants who were born at a median of 31 weeks gestational age and imaged at a median corrected age of 24.6 months. Thalamo-cortical projections and connectivity distributions from seed points positioned in numerous white matter tracts were visualised. Abnormalities were identified in an infant with white matter lesions. This study suggests that a probablilistic tractography approach will be useful in assessing connectivity in brain development and in infants who have focal lesions.