Does prenatal stress alter the developing connectome?

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Abstract

Human neurodevelopment requires the organization of neural elements into complex structural and functional networks called the connectome. Emerging data suggest that prenatal exposure to maternal stress plays a role in the wiring, or miswiring, of the developing connectome. Stress-related symptoms are common in women during pregnancy and are risk factors for neurobehavioral disorders ranging from autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and addiction, to major depression and schizophrenia. This review focuses on structural and functional connectivity imaging to assess the impact of changes in women's stress-based physiology on the dynamic development of the human connectome in the fetal brain.

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Principles of diffusion tensor imaging and its applications to basic neuroscience research.

Susumu Mori, Jiangyang Zhang (2006)

The brain contains more than 100 billion neurons that communicate with each other via axons for the formation of complex neural networks. The structural mapping of such networks during health and disease states is essential for understanding brain function. However, our understanding of brain structural connectivity is surprisingly limited, due in part to the lack of noninvasive methodologies to study axonal anatomy. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a recently developed MRI technique that can measure macroscopic axonal organization in nervous system tissues. In this article, the principles of DTI methodologies are explained, and several applications introduced, including visualization of axonal tracts in myelin and axonal injuries as well as human brain and mouse embryonic development. The strengths and limitations of DTI and key areas for future research and development are also discussed.

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Maternal depression during pregnancy and the postnatal period: risks and possible mechanisms for offspring depression at age 18 years.

Rebecca M. Pearson, Jonathan Evans, Daphne Kounali … (2013)

Some small studies suggest that maternal postnatal depression is a risk factor for offspring adolescent depression. However, to our knowledge, no large cohort studies have addressed this issue. Furthermore, only 1 small study has examined the association between antenatal depression and later offspring depression. Understanding these associations is important to inform prevention. To investigate the hypothesis that there are independent associations between antenatal and postnatal depression with offspring depression and that the risk pathways are different, such that the risk is moderated by disadvantage (low maternal education) with postnatal depression but not with antenatal depression. Prospective investigation of associations between symptoms of antenatal and postnatal parental depression with offspring depression at age 18 years in a UK community-based birth cohort (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children) with data from more than 4500 parents and their adolescent offspring. Diagnosis of offspring aged 18 years with major depression using the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision. Antenatal depression was an independent risk factor. Offspring were 1.28 times (95% CI, 1.08-1.51; P = .003) more likely to have depression at age 18 years for each standard deviation increase in maternal depression score antenatally, independent of later maternal depression. Postnatal depression was also a risk factor for mothers with low education, with offspring 1.26 times (95% CI, 1.06-1.50; P = .01) more likely to have depression for each standard deviation increase in postnatal depression score. However, for more educated mothers, there was little association (odds ratio, 1.09; 95% CI, 0.88-1.36; P = .42). Analyses found that maternal education moderated the effects of postnatal but not antenatal depression. Paternal depression antenatally was not associated with offspring depression, while postnatally, paternal depression showed a similar pattern to maternal depression. The findings suggest that treating maternal depression antenatally could prevent offspring depression during adulthood and that prioritizing less advantaged mothers postnatally may be most effective.

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Maternal cortisol over the course of pregnancy and subsequent child amygdala and hippocampus volumes and affective problems.

Claudia Buss, J Pruessner, Elysia Davis … (2012)

Stress-related variation in the intrauterine milieu may impact brain development and emergent function, with long-term implications in terms of susceptibility for affective disorders. Studies in animals suggest limbic regions in the developing brain are particularly sensitive to exposure to the stress hormone cortisol. However, the nature, magnitude, and time course of these effects have not yet been adequately characterized in humans. A prospective, longitudinal study was conducted in 65 normal, healthy mother-child dyads to examine the association of maternal cortisol in early, mid-, and late gestation with subsequent measures at approximately 7 y age of child amygdala and hippocampus volume and affective problems. After accounting for the effects of potential confounding pre- and postnatal factors, higher maternal cortisol levels in earlier but not later gestation was associated with a larger right amygdala volume in girls (a 1 SD increase in cortisol was associated with a 6.4% increase in right amygdala volume), but not in boys. Moreover, higher maternal cortisol levels in early gestation was associated with more affective problems in girls, and this association was mediated, in part, by amygdala volume. No association between maternal cortisol in pregnancy and child hippocampus volume was observed in either sex. The current findings represent, to the best of our knowledge, the first report linking maternal stress hormone levels in human pregnancy with subsequent child amygdala volume and affect. The results underscore the importance of the intrauterine environment and suggest the origins of neuropsychiatric disorders may have their foundations early in life.

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Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Pediatr Res

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Pediatr. Res

Title: Pediatric Research

Publisher: Nature Publishing Group

ISSN (Print): 0031-3998

ISSN (Electronic): 1530-0447

Publication date (Print): January 2017

Publication date (Electronic preprint): 27 September 2016

Publication date (Electronic): 02 November 2016

Volume: 81

Issue: 1-2

Pages: 214-226

Affiliations

[1 ]Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale School of Medicine , New Haven, Connecticut

[2 ]Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine , New Haven, Connecticut

[3 ]Department of Child Study, Yale School of Medicine , New Haven, Connecticut

[4 ]Department of Neuroscience, Yale School of Medicine , New Haven, Connecticut

[5 ]Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, Yale School of Medicine , New Haven, Connecticut

[6 ]Department of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine , New Haven, Connecticut

[7 ]Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Yale School of Medicine , New Haven, Connecticut

[8 ]Department of Neurosurgery, Yale School of Medicine , New Haven, Connecticut

[9 ]Department of Pediatrics, Yale School of Medicine , New Haven, Connecticut

[10 ]Department of Neurology, Yale School of Medicine , New Haven, Connecticut

Author notes

[* ]( laura.ment@ 123456yale.edu )

Article

Publisher Item ID: pr2016197

DOI: 10.1038/pr.2016.197

PMC ID: 5313513

PubMed ID: 27673421

SO-VID: 5e1d49c8-7f44-453c-8492-433f17455104

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Does prenatal stress alter the developing connectome?

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Estudio del peso al nacer

Most cited references 108

Principles of diffusion tensor imaging and its applications to basic neuroscience research.

Maternal depression during pregnancy and the postnatal period: risks and possible mechanisms for offspring depression at age 18 years.

Maternal cortisol over the course of pregnancy and subsequent child amygdala and hippocampus volumes and affective problems.

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