ArticlePediatric research2021
Reaction times, learning, and executive functioning in adults born preterm.
Article in Pediatric research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association of Very Preterm Birth or Very Low Birth Weight With Intelligence in Adulthood: An Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis.JAMA pediatrics · 2021Pooled it
- Glucocorticoids in pregnancy: a master-switch for fetal maturation.Endocrine reviews · 2026Review
- Fixation and saccadic performance throughout childhood in children born preterm: A multicenter eye-tracking study.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Bronchopulmonary dysplasia and extremely preterm birth: time for a broader perspective on long-term outcomes.European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2026Review
- Neuroimaging markers of cognition in late childhood associated with moderate to late preterm birth.Pediatric research · 2026Article
- Health and Development of Children Born Moderate and Late Preterm and Early Term at Age 10 in French Birth Cohorts ELFE and EPIPAGE 2.Paediatric and perinatal epidemiology · 2026Article
- Executive functions in everyday life in children born small for gestational age - a pilot study of pre-term to full-term children 3 years and younger.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- Executive functions in adults born small for gestational age at term: a prospective cohort study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Article
- Developmental trajectories of late preterm infants and predictors of academic performance.Pediatric research · 2024Article
- Neonatal administration of erythropoietin attenuates cognitive deficits in adult rats following placental insufficiency.Journal of neuroscience research · 2022Article
- Neurocognitive function and associations with mental health in adults born preterm with very low birthweight or small for gestational age at term.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Stability of Executive Functioning of Moderately-Late Preterm and Full-Term Born Children at Ages 11 and 19: The TRAILS Cohort Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThis study examines cognitive functioning in adults born across the range of prematurity with appropriate or small for gestational age (SGA) birth weight compared with full-term controls.
methodsESTER Preterm Birth Study participants without severe disabilities, comprising 133 early preterm (<34 weeks, 17% SGA), 241 late preterm (34 + 0-36 + 6 weeks, 13% SGA), and 348 full-term subjects, performed the Cogstate® test at a mean age of 23.3 (SD = 1.2) years. Subtests measured paired associate learning, psychomotor function, executive function, spatial memory efficiency, visual memory, attention, working memory, visual learning, and emotional cognition. Data were analyzed with linear regression, full models adjusted for prenatal and postnatal factors and socioeconomic position.
resultsEarly preterm, late preterm, and full-term participants showed similar abilities in almost all subtests. Early preterm participants had 0.6 fewer moves/10 s (95% CI: -1.0; -0.2, full model) and late preterm and SGA participants had 1.3 fewer moves/10 s (95% CI: -2.1; -0.4) than full-term controls in the Groton Maze Learning Test, indicating weaker spatial memory efficiency.
conclusionsAdults born across the range of prematurity on average lack major defects in cognitive abilities. Cognitive problems may persist to adulthood only among those born the smallest: very preterm or preterm and SGA. IMPACT: Although preterm birth is a risk for the developing brain, adults born preterm as a group showed similar cognitive performance to their full-term peers. Children born preterm across gestational ages show defects in cognitive domains. With a supportive environment, many of them have the potential to catch up with those born at term. The unfavorable effect of late preterm birth on cognitive functions in childhood may not persist to adulthood; in this study, adults born late preterm showed similar cognitive functioning to adults born full-term. The deficits in cognitive function in adults born preterm detected by earlier studies mainly concern those born the smallest, i.e., very preterm or preterm and small for gestational age.
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