Preterm birth associates with diffuse white matter dysmaturation, which is linked to neurocognitive impairment. We applied principal component analysis to tract-averaged diffusion tensor (DTI) and neurite orientation and density imaging (NODDI) measures to derive single- and multimodal general factors describing neonatal white matter microstructure. We report substantial shared variance of DTI and NODDI metrics across 16 white matter tracts and between the different metrics; the derived general factors associate with preterm birth. These results suggest that general factors are efficient markers of generalised white matter microstructure in early life, and are useful for investigating the determinants of white matter development.
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