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Abstract #4666

Unveiling early cortical and white-matter maturation and the effect of music in preterm brain development: a longitudinal fixel-based analysis

Joana S. de Almeida1, Lara Lordier1, Sebastien Courvoisier2, François Lazeyras2, and Petra Hüppi1
1Department of Women-Children-Teenagers, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland, 2Department of Radiology and Medical Informatics, CIBM, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

Dynamic brain macrostructural and microstructural changes occur from mid-fetal stage to birth. Prematurity disrupts brain maturation during this critical period and music might enhance activity-dependent-plasticity during early brain development. Using a longitudinal fixel-based analysis, we evaluated preterm brain macro and microscopic fiber changes from 33 weeks to term-age and the impact of music, during neonatal unit stay, on these changes. We show that fiber density (FD) and fiber-bundle cross-section (FC) increase in all major white-matter fibers over time, while in the cortex FD decreases and FC increases. Music intervention lead to a significant cortical FC increase in comparison to standard-of-care.

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