MAPPING the brain of premature babies could predict if they will have disabilities in later life, suggests new research.

The study shows scanning a premature child’s brain shortly after birth to map the location and volume of lesions – small areas of injury in the brain’s white matter – may help doctors better predict whether the baby will be disabled.

Lack of oxygen to the brain is the most common form of brain injury in premature babies, resulting in damage to the white matter.

White matter contains nerve fibres that maintain contact between various parts of the brain.

Damage to white matter can interfere with communication in the brain and the signals it sends to other parts of the body, according to the study published online by the journal Neurology.

Study author Doctor Steven Miller, of The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, said: “In general, babies who are born before 31 weeks gestation have a higher risk of thinking, language and movement problems throughout their lives, so being able to better predict which infants will face certain developmental problems is important so they get the best early interventions possible.

“As important is to be able to reassure parents of infants not be at risk.”

The researchers looked at a group of premature babies admitted to the Neonatal ICU at British Columbia’s Women’s Hospital over seven years.

They found 58 babies with white matter injury who had an MRI brain scan at an average of 32 weeks after gestation. These babies were then evaluated for motor, thinking and language skills when they were 18 months old.

Dr Miller said future studies should evaluate premature babies at various points throughout childhood to determine the consequences of early brain injuries.