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Previous Volume 350:2715-2718 June 24, 2004 Number 26 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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To the Editor: Yeh et al.¹ report impairments in neuromotor skills and cognition in school-age children who were treated with dexamethasone as preterm infants, but they do not propose an underlying mechanism. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor is crucial for normal development and for the maintenance of motor function and cognition.² Lack of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the prenatal and early postnatal stages of life reduces the survival, differentiation, and synapse formation of central and peripheral neurons.^2,3 Expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in brain regions critical for cognitive functions (such as the hippocampus) is suppressed by dexamethasone.⁴ As we can show, dexamethasone . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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