5 ms·

Brain impairments in premature infants may begin in the womb

28 points by upen 10y ago

joepanda 10y ago
I was born almost a month premature. I didn't start talking until much later than my siblings and am markedly less social. I've also read that brain lateralization may occur later in pregnancy and although my family is all right-handed, I am very left side dominant. It's kind of a bummer to read this, but at least anecdotally, it agrees my experience.
- sogen 10y ago
  One question, where you in NICU?
  - joepanda 10y ago
    I'm not sure. I know it was fairly serious, but I don't know the details.
    - sogen 10y ago
      Thanks
  - silencio 10y ago
    I think once you're near something like 34-36 weeks, it's only a thing if you have problems staying warm or eating or breathing. I was late preterm too like your parent comment and I did not have a nicu stay.
- psbp 10y ago
  Exact same situation. I never struggled academically, but to this day I'm still socially reserved. Here's a great paper comparing lefties in terms of several long-term outcomes, none of them are good :( http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/joshuagoodman/files/rwp12-002-goodman.pdf http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/joshuagoodman/files/rwp12-0... The paper does include the potential link between left-handedness and pre-term birth.
marchenko 10y ago
This is interesting. I remember learning in a developmental biology course that the completion of brain development is one of the signals that triggers birth for human neonates.These results suggest that there might be problems throughout the upstream brain development cascade in these premature infants.
Tistel 10y ago
I was born more than a month premature and was in a NICU. I did ok in school/uni, but, I have very poor social skills compared to my siblings. I wonder if this is a contributing factor. Oh well, I guess there is nothing you can do after the fact. Just try to get on with things. On the bright side, my lack of social skills has allowed me to get really good at staring at a screen and pressing buttons! :)
- sogen 10y ago
  :)
dplgk 10y ago
I was born 2 months early! Not sure I have anything to blame on it.

28 points by upen 10y ago

I was born almost a month premature. I didn't start talking until much later than my siblings and am markedly less social. I've also read that brain lateralization may occur later in pregnancy and although my family is all right-handed, I am very left side dominant. It's kind of a bummer to read this, but at least anecdotally, it agrees my experience.

sogen 10y ago
One question, where you in NICU?
- joepanda 10y ago
  I'm not sure. I know it was fairly serious, but I don't know the details.
  - sogen 10y ago
    Thanks
- silencio 10y ago
  I think once you're near something like 34-36 weeks, it's only a thing if you have problems staying warm or eating or breathing. I was late preterm too like your parent comment and I did not have a nicu stay.
psbp 10y ago
Exact same situation. I never struggled academically, but to this day I'm still socially reserved. Here's a great paper comparing lefties in terms of several long-term outcomes, none of them are good :( http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/joshuagoodman/files/rwp12-002-goodman.pdf http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/joshuagoodman/files/rwp12-0... The paper does include the potential link between left-handedness and pre-term birth.

marchenko 10y ago

This is interesting. I remember learning in a developmental biology course that the completion of brain development is one of the signals that triggers birth for human neonates.These results suggest that there might be problems throughout the upstream brain development cascade in these premature infants.

Tistel 10y ago

I was born more than a month premature and was in a NICU. I did ok in school/uni, but, I have very poor social skills compared to my siblings. I wonder if this is a contributing factor. Oh well, I guess there is nothing you can do after the fact. Just try to get on with things. On the bright side, my lack of social skills has allowed me to get really good at staring at a screen and pressing buttons! :)

sogen 10y ago
:)

dplgk 10y ago

I was born 2 months early! Not sure I have anything to blame on it.