Discussion
This study aimed to assess the integrity of attention tracts in VPT
children compared with term-born children at 7 years, and the association
between themicrostructural organization of these tracts and attention
functioning in VPT children. Comparedwith termchildren, our VPT
group had reduced volumes and increased diffusivity in the reticular
activating system, together with reduced fractional anisotropy and
increased radial diffusivity in the corpus callosum. In the VPT group,
attention performance was mostly associated with microstructural
organization of the left cingulum bundle. These findings help us to
understand vulnerable white matter pathways in VPT children, and
infer that the cingulum bundle is important for attention functioning
in VPT children.