Audiovisual speech integration in children born preterm: a behavioral and fMRI study

Motivation: Multisensory integration is a crucial ability to function well in our complex environment. The impact of prematurity on this ability has only been scarcely studied and to our knowledge the neural basis has never been investigated in this vulnerable population. Goal(s): This study aims at understanding the neural correlates of audiovisual speech integration in children born preterm. Approach: A multimodal study using behavior and fMRI was designed to this aim. Results: The results showed that preterm children exhibit audiovisual integration by recruiting multiple associative areas as well as speech motor areas to achieve comparable performance compared with full-term children. Impact: This study uses a new protocol to investigate audiovisual speech integration in a vulnerable population using functional magnetic resonance imaging. This is the first study using fMRI in preterm children to investigate this question.