Detailed knowledge of how the fetal brain is affected by preterm birth and intrauterine growth retardation do not exist, the researchers wrote. Because developing neurons are more vulnerable to cell death during the perinatal period, biological and environmental insults associated with preterm birth may account for some of the anatomical differences found among children with ADHD, the researchers wrote.
Further studies related to the delivery, causes of preterm delivery, and conditions in the perinatal period, are therefore needed, they concluded.
Primary source: Archives of Disease in Childhood
