Thalamic Growth (IMAGE) Society for Neuroscience Caption Very preterm born neonates can be exposed to hundreds of skin breaking procedures during the first weeks of life in the neonatal intensive care unit. Thalamic growth, obtained from volumetric segmentations (red) on magnetic resonance images (sagittal views) at postmenstrual ages of 32 and 40 weeks, was reduced in neonates receiving a high number of early skin breaking procedures, adjusting for factors related to prematurity and clinical care. Deformation based morphometry analysis revealed (centre, 3D image) that early skin breaking procedures were associated with reduced volume (blue) in the territory of the somatosensory nuclei in the thalamus. Credit Steven Miller & Emma Duerden Usage Restrictions None License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.