Prenatal Cardiac Function and Postnatal Cognitive Development: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Fetal cardiac function was measured at 24, 30, and 36 weeks gestation and quantified in terms of heart rate, variability, and episodic accelerations. Children's representational capacity was evaluated at 27 months in terms of language and play. Thirty-and 36-week-old fetuses that displayed greater heart-rate variability and more episodic accelerations, and fetuses that exhibited a more precipitous increase in heart-rate variability and acceleration over gestation achieved higher levels of language competence. Thirty-six-week-old fetuses with higher heart-rate variability and accelerations. and steeper growth trajectories over gestation, achieved higher levels of symbolic play. Cardiac patterning during gestation may reflect an underlying neural substrate that persists through early childhood: Individual variation in rate of development could be stable, or efficient cardiac function could positively influence the underlying neural substrate to enhance cognitive performance.

Deficient maternal zinc intake—but not folate—is associated with lower fetal heart rate variability

“…Furthermore, most of the 10 foods richest in zinc—seafood, lamb, wheat germ, spinach, pumpkin seeds, mushrooms—are uncommon for urban teenagers or those in poverty [6,44]. Emerging data show continuity between fetal and infant development [28,45], and fetal ANS features predicting infant neurobehavioral outcomes [28,46]. Thus, these results showing effects of deficient zinc and HRV may have implications for children’s long-term outcomes.…”

Regular Maternal Exercise Dose and Fetal Heart Outcome

“…Similarly, fetuses exposed to alcohol have lower HR, with little or no HRV (19) and associated with poor pregnancy outcomes. Furthermore, the persistence of HR and HRV within individuals is well established (6,(13)(14)(15), as well as how these measures relate to developmental outcomes. For example, slower HR and increased HRV in the fetus are associated with significantly higher motor development indices and better language development at 2 yr (14).…”

Auditory Processing in Growth-Restricted Fetuses and Newborns and Later Language Development

“…Taken together, these findings indicate that fetal auditory-system development may influence subsequent language abilities. Moreover, a relation between late-gestation heart rate and language competence in 27 month olds has been shown (Bornstein et al, 2002), which indicates that fetal heart rate may serve as a reliable measure of auditory processing.…”