Research on Neonatal Brain-Age Models Highlights Challenges in Predicting Health Outcomes
A recent study has developed brain-age prediction models using diffusion MRI-derived white matter features to assess brain development in full-term and preterm infants. The research utilized data from the developing Human Connectome Project and a clinical sample from Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. The study aimed to construct a neonatal brain-age model, evaluate its accuracy, and determine its ability to predict brain-age based on clinical MRI scans from high-risk preterm infants. While the models demonstrated strong predictive performance in estimating post-menstrual age, they showed limited sensitivity to health complications in preterm infants. The findings suggest that while tractometry-derived brain-age models can accurately characterize brain maturation, they may not effectively capture the cumulative burden of prematurity-related morbidities. 
