Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone during Pregnancy Is Associated with Infant Temperament

Abstract

During pregnancy corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) is released into maternal and fetal circulation from the placenta. Elevated concentrations of placental CRH are associated with spontaneous preterm birth, but the consequences for infant development, independent of birth outcome, are unknown. In this study, the effects of placental CRH on infant temperament were examined in a sample of 248 full-term infants. Maternal blood samples were collected at 19, 25 and 31 weeks of gestation for CRH analysis. Infant temperament was assessed with measures of fear and distress at 2 months of age. Infants of mothers with low CRH at 25 weeks of gestation scored lower in fear and distress at 2 months. CRH at 19 and 31 weeks’ gestation was not significantly associated with measures of infant temperament, suggesting the possibility that there is a sensitive period for its effects. These data suggest that prenatal exposure to CRH may exert influences that persist into the postnatal period.

Exposure to Prenatal Psychobiological Stress Exerts Programming Influences on the Mother and Her Fetus

“…Our studies have shown that elevated levels of prenatal maternal anxiety and depression were associated with increased infant fearful temperament after controlling for the influence of postpartum maternal state in both maternal report and laboratory observational measures of temperament [56,61]. In these same studies, maternal and placental stress-related hormones also were associated with more fearful infant temperament [53,61]; however, the biological stress associations with infant temperament were independent of the associations between maternal psychosocial stress and infant temperament.…”

“…Prenatal exposure to elevated levels of maternal psychosocial stress and stress hormones has been reported to be associated with behavioral and emotional disturbances during infancy and childhood that are independent of birth outcome and postpartum maternal stress or depression [53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61]. Our studies have shown that elevated levels of prenatal maternal anxiety and depression were associated with increased infant fearful temperament after controlling for the influence of postpartum maternal state in both maternal report and laboratory observational measures of temperament [56,61].…”

Antenatal Maternal Anxiety is Related to HPA-Axis Dysregulation and Self-Reported Depressive Symptoms in Adolescence: A Prospective Study on the Fetal Origins of Depressed Mood

“…This possibly results in some individuals in distinct and stable patterns of dysregulations that are associated with altered emotional processing and heightened responsiveness to stress (Heim et al, 2004;Meaney and Szyf, 2005;Weaver et al, 2001Weaver et al, , 2005. In humans, the effects of ELS were tested in epidemiological studies (see Kajantie, 2006;Phillips, 2004;Thompson et al, 2001) and in retrospective (see Heim et al, 2000Heim et al, , 2004Gunnar and Quevedo, 2007;Kaufman and Charney, 2001;Tarullo and Gunnar 2006) and prospective (see Davis et al, 2005;Egliston et al, 2007;Huizink et al, 2004;Talge et al, 2007;Van den Bergh et al, 2005a) clinical and quasi-experimental studies.…”

Learning by embryos and the ghost of predation future

“…Moreover, use of the vegetated habitat did not depend upon being exposed to vegetation during the embryonic period (see §2). Although the proximate mechanisms for these changes in behaviour are unknown, embryonic learning may be hormonally mediated (Davis et al 2005;Uller & Olsson 2006) or related to changes in neurological (amygdalar) biology (Salm et al 2004). …”