Plasticity of Neonatal Neuronal Networks in Very Premature Infants: Source Localization of Temporal Theta Activity, the First Endogenous Neural Biomarker, in Temporoparietal Areas

Temporal theta slow-wave activity (TTA-SW) in premature infants is a specific signature of the early development of temporal networks, as it is observed at the turning point between non-sensory driven spontaneous local processing and cortical network functioning. The role in development and the precise location of TTA-SW remain unknown. Previous studies have demonstrated that preterms from 28 weeks of gestational age (wGA) are able to discriminate phonemes and voice, supporting the idea of a prior genetic structural or activity-dependent fingerprint that would prepare the auditory network to compute auditory information at the onset of thalamocortical connectivity. They recorded TTA-SW in 26-32 wGA preterms. The rate of TTA-SW in response to click stimuli was evalu- ated using low-density EEG in 30 preterms. The sources of TTA-SW were localized by high-density EEG using different tissues conductivities, head models and mathematical models.