Atypical neuronal activation during a spatial working memory task in 13-year-old very preterm children

: Children born very preterm (VP; C and BS > FS, respectively. There were no significant group differences in neuronal activation for FS > C. However, BS > FS revealed that VP children had significantly greater activation in the left middle frontal gyrus, in the left superior parietal gyrus and right cerebellar tonsil, and significantly less activation in the right precentral and postcentral gyrus and left insula compared with controls. Taken together these results suggest that VP children at 13 years of age show an atypical neuronal activation during spatial WM, specifically related to manipulation of spatial information in WM. It is unclear whether these findings reflect delayed maturation and/or recruitment of alternative neuronal networks as a result of neuroplasticity. Hum Brain Mapp 38:6172-6184, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.