Effects of perinatal asphyxia on cortical activity in two-year-old children

TL;DR

Perinatal asphyxia can affect brain activity in two-year-olds, even without severe brain injury, potentially altering brain function long-term.

Contribution

The study reveals that perinatal asphyxia alone, without encephalopathy, affects cortical activity networks in young children.

Findings

Children with perinatal asphyxia showed altered frequency-specific amplitudes in cortical activity.

Perinatal asphyxia affected cortico-cortical networks, with stronger low-frequency and weaker high-frequency connectivity.

Local phase-amplitude coupling was altered in only a few cortical regions affected by perinatal asphyxia or HIE.

Abstract

•Perinatal asphyxia may have a long-lasting effect on brain functions and cortical network activity•Our findings suggest that perinatal asphyxia, even without clinical encephalopathy, reflects on cortical activity at age two•Long-term effects of perinatal asphyxia on cortical activity networks appear to co-vary with neonatal encephalopathy severity

Perinatal asphyxia may have a long-lasting effect on brain functions and cortical network activity

Our findings suggest that perinatal asphyxia, even without clinical encephalopathy, reflects on cortical activity at age two

Long-term effects of perinatal asphyxia on cortical activity networks appear to co-vary with neonatal encephalopathy severity

Perinatal asphyxia can lead to clinical hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) associated with high morbidity and mortality, but less is known about long-lasting effects of perinatal asphyxia alone (PA). Here, we investigate how PA with versus without clinical HIE affects cortical activity networks at two years of age. Electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings were acquired during sleep from three cohorts of children (PA only (n = 10), PA with mild to moderate HIE (n = 8), and healthy controls (n = 37)), and we assessed the group differences in local cortical function and cortico-cortical networks. Compared with the healthy controls, both PA and HIE were linked to reduced frequency-specific amplitudes. In two-year-old children with PA, the amplitude-related networks were stronger at low frequencies and weaker at higher frequencies, however, two-year-olds with HIE showed decreased connectivity at all frequencies. Likewise, phase-related networks in children with PA were stronger at lower frequencies and weaker at higher frequencies. Local phase-amplitude coupling was affected by PA or HIE in only a few cortical regions. Our findings suggest that PA, even without clinical HIE, may be associated with long-lasting changes to both local cortical activity and the large-scale cortical networks, which could potentially affect normal brain functions.

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