Introduction
PRETERM BIRTH
Prenatal brain development is characterized by important macro- and microstructural changes, in particular during the third trimester, with axonal and dendritic growth, synaptogenesis, myelination and cortical gyration (Preterm birth interferes abruptly with normal brain maturation during this critical period of brain growth (During neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) stay, preterm infants are exposed routinely to multiple noxious stimuli (Diffusion MRI (dMRI) provides unique information about WM fibers, which are not yet fully myelinated in the premature brain and for which relaxation-based contrast is still inadequate (The current study evaluates the longitudinal impact of an early music intervention in very preterm infants’ brain macro- and microstructural development employing recent higher-order dMRI models, namely FBA and NODDI. Unlike two previous studies (We hypothesize that: 1) important macro- and microstructural brain maturational changes occur in very preterm infants brain during early development from 33 weeks GA to term-equivalent age; 2) an early postnatal music intervention given during NICU stay enhances important structural brain maturational changes occurring during this period.