Tomoki Arichi1,
2, Alessandro Allievi3, Alejandro Melendez-Calderon3,
Nora Tusor1, 2, Libuse Pazderova1, 2,
Hilary Toulmin1, Serena J. Counsell4, Etienne Burdet3,
A. David Edwards1, 3
1Centre
for the Developing Brain, Kings College, London, United Kingdom; 2MRC
Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom; 3Department
of Bioengineering, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom; 4Centre
for the Developing Brain, King's College London, London, United Kingdom
The preterm period is characterized by a dramatic sequence of brain maturation, as evidenced by the ontogeny of resting state networks. We describe a similar sequence of maturation in the spatial and temporal properties of somatosensory cortical functional responses in human preterm infants, using BOLD fMRI and a novel wrist stimulating robotic device. With increasing age and degrees of ex-utero exposure, functional responses were found be faster and more bilateral in spatial location, suggesting that this maturation may be activity dependent.