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Music enhances structural maturation of emotional processing neural pathways in very preterm infants

Sa de Almeida, Joana; Lordier, Lara; Zollinger, Benjamin; Kunz, Nicolas; Bastiani, Matteo; Gui, Laura; Adam-Darque, Alexandra; Borradori-Tolsa, Cristina; Lazeyras, Fran�ois; H�ppi, Petra S.

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Authors

Joana Sa de Almeida

Lara Lordier

Benjamin Zollinger

Nicolas Kunz

Matteo Bastiani

Laura Gui

Alexandra Adam-Darque

Cristina Borradori-Tolsa

Fran�ois Lazeyras

Petra S. H�ppi



Abstract

Prematurity disrupts brain maturation by exposing the developing brain to different noxious stimuli present in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and depriving it from meaningful sensory inputs during a critical period of brain development, leading to later neurodevelopmental impairments.

Musicotherapy in the NICU environment has been proposed to promote sensory stimulation, relevant for activity-dependent brain plasticity, but its impact on brain structural maturation is unknown. Neuroimaging studies have demonstrated that music listening triggers neural substrates implied in socio-emotional processing and, thus, it might influence networks formed early in development and known to be affected by prematurity.

Using multi-modal MRI, we aimed to evaluate the impact of a specially composed music intervention during NICU stay on preterm infant's brain structure maturation. 30 preterm newborns (out of which 15 were exposed to music during NICU stay and 15 without music intervention) and 15 full-term newborns underwent an MRI examination at term-equivalent age, comprising diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), used to evaluate white matter maturation using both region-of-interest and seed-based tractography approaches, as well as a T2-weighted image, used to perform amygdala volumetric analysis.

Overall, WM microstructural maturity measured through DTI metrics was reduced in preterm infants receiving the standard-of-care in comparison to full-term newborns, whereas preterm infants exposed to the music intervention demonstrated significantly improved white matter maturation in acoustic radiations, external capsule/claustrum/extreme capsule and uncinate fasciculus, as well as larger amygdala volumes, in comparison to preterm infants with standard-of-care. These results suggest a structural maturational effect of the proposed music intervention on premature infants’ auditory and emotional processing neural pathways during a key period of brain development.

Citation

Sa de Almeida, J., Lordier, L., Zollinger, B., Kunz, N., Bastiani, M., Gui, L., …Hüppi, P. S. (2020). Music enhances structural maturation of emotional processing neural pathways in very preterm infants. NeuroImage, 207, Article 116391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116391

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 21, 2019
Online Publication Date Nov 22, 2019
Publication Date Feb 15, 2020
Deposit Date Nov 27, 2019
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal NeuroImage
Print ISSN 1053-8119
Electronic ISSN 1095-9572
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 207
Article Number 116391
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.116391
Keywords Cognitive Neuroscience; Neurology
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3423447
Publisher URL https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811919309826

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