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OBJECTIVES: To explore whether brain volumes in ex-preterm born children at school age relates to their cognitive abilities.

BACKGROUND: It is well established that a preterm birth is associated with an increased risk for cognitive deficits that often remain undetected until school age. Such deficits are likely caused by an atypical neurodevelopment. There is, however, relatively little known about the characterization of the preterm born children’s brain in relation to long-term cognitive performance.

METHODS: A sample of preterm children (n = 32) and typically developing fullterm children (n = 38) at 7-8-years underwent 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with additional synthetic MR for extraction of brain tissue. MR-findings were related to performance on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, 4^th edition (WISC-IV).

RESULTS: The preterm children performed significantly poorer than fullterm peers on the WISC-IV in terms of total IQ (M = 95.1 and 103.5, respectively) and other measures. Overall, the total brain volume was positively correlated with general cognitive ability (total IQ). Additionally, a significant relation between grey matter (GM) and IQ was found for the preterm children. However, no association between white matter (WM) and IQ was found.

CONCLUSIONS: Even in a small sample of school-aged children with a history of birth comparatively close to term it was possible to detect a link between atypical brain volumes and cognitive functioning. The nature of these associations is discussed in terms of how GM and WM may contribute to long-term cognition deficits associated with a preterm birth.