Bedside functional monitoring of the dynamic brain connectivity in human neonates

Clinicians have long been interested in functional brain monitoring, as reversible functional losses often precedes observable irreversible structural insults. By characterizing neonatal functional cerebral networks, resting-state functional connectivity is envisioned to provide early markers of cognitive impairments. Here we present a pioneering bedside deep brain resting-state functional connectivity imaging at 250-mu m resolution on human neonates using functional ultrasound. Signal correlations between cerebral regions unveil interhemispheric connectivity in very preterm newborns. Furthermore, fine-grain correlations between homologous pixels are consistent with white/grey matter organization. Finally, dynamic resting-state connectivity reveals a significant occurrence decrease of thalamo-cortical networks for very preterm neonates as compared to control term newborns. The same method also shows abnormal patterns in a congenital seizure disorder case compared with the control group. These results pave the way to infants' brain continuous monitoring and may enable the identification of abnormal brain development at the bedside. Monitoring of cerebral function in human neonates remains challenging. Here, the authors propose a bedside monitoring technique using functional ultrasound to identify markers of cerebral activity based on intrinsic functional connectivity for early brain function monitoring.

Automated summary

This study utilizes functional ultrasound for bedside deep brain resting-state functional connectivity imaging in neonates, revealing interhemispheric connectivity in preterm newborns and fine-grain correlations within brain tissue. Furthermore, decreased occurrence of thalamo-cortical networks is observed in very preterm neonates compared to control term newborns, suggesting potential applications for early brain function monitoring.