While survival is possible at increasingly lower gestational ages at birth, premature babies are at higher risk of developing mental disorders or learning disabilities than babies born at term. A precise identification of the developmental differences between premature and control neonates is consequently of utmost importance. Nowadays, the continuously improving quality and availability of MR systems makes it possible to precisely determine, characterize and compare brain structures such as cortical regions, or white matter fiber bundles. The objective of this project is to understand the developmental differences of premature versus normal neonates, using structural and diffusion MRI. This work consists of identifying, characterizing and meticulously studying the brain structures that are different between the two groups. To do so, we propose to join forces between the Parietal team at INRIA and the University of Southern California - USC. This project also includes studies on small animals where most of the setup difficulties of scanning neonates are present or can be reliably reproduced.

This project is funded by the "Associated Team" program of the International Relations of INRIA.