Science· 2026Q1
Intrinsic gestational timing governs human cerebellar development after preterm birth
- 1citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Preterm birth disrupts the inherent developmental timeline of the human cerebellum, leading to incomplete maturation of key cell types and divergent developmental states even in infants of equivalent postmenstrual age.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Preterm birth disrupts the intrinsic developmental trajectory of the human cerebellum.
- Cerebellar growth and functional outcomes correlate with gestational age, independent of perinatal exposures.
- Key cellular deficits include incomplete granule cell maturation and impaired Purkinje cell structural refinement.
- Preterm birth causes biologically displaced maturation, leading to divergent developmental states in infants of equivalent postmenstrual age.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Intrinsic programs shape brain maturation; however, which of these programs are perturbed by prematurity as well as the molecular pathways involved remain unknown. The human cerebellum serves as a paradigm of extrauterine development—its accelerated growth and circuit formation align with the third trimester, a period disrupted by preterm delivery. Using multimodal datasets encompassing in vivo neuroimaging and neurodevelopmental outcomes with postmortem spatial-transcriptomic and histopathological profiling, we show that prematurity diverts the cerebellar developmental trajectory. Cerebellar growth and functional outcomes scaled with gestational age, despite modifying perinatal exposures. Spatially resolved developmental programs underlying macroscopic trajectories were marked by incomplete granule cell maturation and impaired Purkinje cell structural refinement, which indicate lineage-specific developmental asynchrony. Thus, prematurity constitutes biologically displaced maturation, in which infants of equivalent postmenstrual age occupy divergent developmental states.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Science, 2026 · DOI ↗
Continue with a free account
Ask the paper: 3 free questions a day about this paper; save it, get its citation, new summaries every day for your field. Takeaways are Premium.
Continue free on the webSign in with Google or Apple; no card needed. You come back to this paper.
On your phone:
Field: Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health
Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child HealthMedicine