# Visual pathways functioning in healthy pre-term adolescents: Sex but not gestational age effect

## TL;DR

This study finds that preterm female adolescents show reduced visual processing efficiency but maintain good performance through compensation strategies, unlike males.

## Contribution

The study reveals sex-specific effects in visual functioning among preterm adolescents, independent of gestational age.

## Key findings

- Preterm females show reduced psychophysical visuo-perceptual threshold efficiency but not impaired neuropsychological accuracy.
- Females born preterm may use compensation strategies to maintain performance despite perceptual challenges.
- Male vulnerability in cognitive functioning related to prematurity is negligible in this age group with normal outcomes.

## Abstract

Visuo-spatial and visuo-perceptual functioning is widely studied in preterm child and is strongly sex-specific. However, little to no data is available regarding male-female differences in preterm children and adolescents and about the interaction effect between sex and preterm birth.

We studied 30 adolescents born preterm with normal cognitive and clinical neurological outcomes and 34 age-matched controls to investigate the interaction between levels of prematurity and sex in predicting the outcome of visual pathways functioning and to explore the relation between psychophysiological perceptive processing and neuropsychological performance.

In the presence of prematurity, a greater female vulnerability in central visuo-cognitive processing (Form Coherence Task), but not in neuropsychological accuracy (Street Completion Test and Visual Object and Space Perception battery), seems to be more evident. Moreover, the psychophysical threshold is correlated to neuropsychological accuracy only in preterm females and not in males.

These results support the idea that the male vulnerability in cognitive functioning described in prematurity-related developmental conditions is negligible during school age in children-adolescents with normal cognitive and clinical neurological outcomes.

Visuo-perceptual functioning is widely studied in prematurity. However, few data are available about the interaction effect between sex and preterm birth in predicting visuo-perceptual functioning.We evidenced that in females born preterm with preserved cognitive abilities, the efficiency of the psychophysical visuo-perceptual threshold is reduced, but not related to the neuropsychological performance. Females may implement compensation strategies to achieve good performance regardless of the perceptual threshold.The present study addresses an important gap in literature, suggesting possible sex-specific outcomes in visuo-perceptual ability among preterm children and adolescents with normal intelligence and neurological outcomes.

Visuo-perceptual functioning is widely studied in prematurity. However, few data are available about the interaction effect between sex and preterm birth in predicting visuo-perceptual functioning.

We evidenced that in females born preterm with preserved cognitive abilities, the efficiency of the psychophysical visuo-perceptual threshold is reduced, but not related to the neuropsychological performance. Females may implement compensation strategies to achieve good performance regardless of the perceptual threshold.

The present study addresses an important gap in literature, suggesting possible sex-specific outcomes in visuo-perceptual ability among preterm children and adolescents with normal intelligence and neurological outcomes.