Prenatal Exposure to Air Pollution and Early-Life Stress Effects on Hippocampal Subregional Volumes and Associations With Visuospatial Reasoning

Margolis, Amy; Cohen, Jacob W.; Ramphal, Bruce; Thomas, Lauren; Rauh, Virginia; Herbstman, Julie B.; Pagliaccio, David

doi:10.1016/j.bpsgos.2022.05.003

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 85 publications

(101 reference statements)

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“…Calibration of these tools within this sensors is executed via machine learning processes enabled through internet connection to the sensor. 3 The accuracy, precision and overall performance of Flow sensors has been investigated by and reported in Crnosija et al (2022), which found that these sensors are able to detect changes in ambient PM 2.5 and PM10 reliably. Specifically, a coefficient of determination of 0.76 (R 2 = 0.76) was obtained for the relationship between minute-by-minute PM 2.5 exposure in 32 Flow devices and a Plantower air sensor, indicating how well the average PM 2.5 measured by the Flow devices predicts that measured by the Plantower air sensor (Crnosija et al, 2022).…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Alterations in the central nervous system may directly and indirectly affect the brain, such as through the cardiovascular, pulmonary, and immune systems ( Block et al, 2012 ). Prenatal exposures to chemical exposures can, in the long term, negatively affect regions involved in the regulation of emotion, stress, and behavior ( Margolis et al, 2022 ; Peterson et al, 2022 ) as well as cognitive functioning ( Guxens et al, 2018 ), as measured via blood flow, cortical thickness, tissue microstructure, and hippocampal and cerebral volumes, among others. In children, the blood–brain barrier is more permeable during development than later in life, making childhood a period of extreme vulnerability to toxic exposures ( Calderón-Garcidueñas et al, 2008 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bridging the environment and neurodevelopment for children’s health: Associations between real-time air pollutant exposures and cognitive outcomes

Medrano

Crnosija²,

Prather³

et al. 2022

Front. Psychol.

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Research suggests that children’s exposure to pollutants may impact their neurocognitive development. While researchers have found associations between air pollutants and cognitive development, these associations remain underspecified. Further, these exposures occur in the context of the built environment and may be exacerbated by local social vulnerability; in this context, individuals may experience a suite of socioenvironmental stressors that lead to increased cumulative risk exposure. In this pilot study, we tested whether real-time-measured personal exposure to PM2.5 relates to children’s executive function and mathematical skills, outcomes that may predict later mathematical performance, general academic performance and even employment outcomes. We recruited 30 families to participate in two rounds in Winter 2020 and Summer 2021. We collected children’s demographic data, as well as data about their living environment. In each round, children carried a small device that collected real-time ambient air pollution data for 3 days; parents logged their children’s activities each day. On the last day, children completed cognitive assessments indexing their working memory (n-back), inhibitory control (Go/No-Go), nonsymbolic math skills (dot comparison), and arithmetic skills (equation verification). Overall, 29 participants had pollutant readings from both rounds, and 21 had a full dataset. Nonparametric statistical analysis revealed no significant differences in ambient air pollution and cognitive performance over time, Spearman’s rho correlation assessment found that PM2.5 was not significantly correlated with cognitive outcomes in R1 and R2. However, the correlations suggested that an increase in PM2.5 was associated with worse working memory, inhibitory control, nonsymbolic skills, and arithmetic skills, at least in R1. We used each participant’s zip code-aggregated Social Vulnerability Index, which range from 0 to 1, with higher numbers indicating more social vulnerability. Wilcoxon Rank-Sum tests indicated that participants living in higher SVI zip codes (≥0.70; n = 15) were not significantly different from those living in lower SVI zip codes (<0.70; n = 14), in terms of their PM2.5 exposures and cognitive performance in each round. We also found that socioeconomic characteristics mattered, such that children whose parent (s) had at least a Master’s degree or earned more than $100,000 a year had lower PM2.5 exposures than children in the other end.

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Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bridging the environment and neurodevelopment for children’s health: Associations between real-time air pollutant exposures and cognitive outcomes

Medrano

Crnosija²,

Prather³

et al. 2022

Front. Psychol.

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“…Such multiple exposures likely have combined effects on developmental outcomes via shared cognitive, behavioral, and neurobiological pathways ( Lewtas, 1994 ; Weiss, 2000 ). Specifically, prenatal PAH exposure exacerbated the effects of early life stress on attention and thought problems in late childhood ( Pagliaccio et al, 2020 ), as well as the effects of maternal stress on hippocampal volumes at age 8 ( Margolis et al, 2022 ). Additionally, higher exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and material hardship was associated with cognitive deficits in the first 2 years of life in urban African American and Dominican youth ( Rauh et al, 2004 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of prenatal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and childhood material hardship on reading achievement in school-age children: A preliminary study

et al. 2023

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BackgroundChildren from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds are at elevated risk for reading problems. They are also likely to live in neighborhoods with high levels of air pollution and to experience material hardship. Despite these risk factors, the links between prenatal chemical exposures, socioeconomic adversities, and reading problems in youth from disadvantaged backgrounds remain understudied. Here we examine associations between prenatal exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), a common air pollutant, and reading skills, and determine if this relationship is exacerbated by material hardship among Black and/or Latinx children who have been followed as part of a longitudinal urban birth cohort.MethodsMothers and their children, who were participants in a prospective birth cohort followed by the Columbia Center for Children’s Environmental Health, were recruited for the current study. Personal prenatal PAH exposure was measured during the third-trimester of pregnancy using a personal air monitoring backpack. Mothers reported their level of material hardship when their child was age 5 and children completed measures of pseudoword and word reading [Woodcock Johnson III Tests of Achievement (WJ-III) Basic Reading Index] at age 7. We used multiple linear regression to examine the effects of the interaction between prenatal PAH and material hardship on Basic Reading Index, controlling for ethnicity/race, sex, birthweight, presence of a smoker in the home (prenatal), and maternal education (prenatal) (N = 53).ResultsA prenatal PAH × material hardship interaction significantly associated with WJ-III Basic Reading Index scores at age 7 (β = −0.347, t(44) = −2.197, p = 0.033). Exploratory analyses suggested that this effect was driven by untimed pseudoword decoding (WJ-III Word Attack: β = −0.391, t(44) = −2.550, p = 0.014).ConclusionEnvironmental chemical exposures can be particularly toxic during the prenatal period when the fetal brain undergoes rapid development, making it uniquely vulnerable to chemical perturbations. These data highlight the interactive effects of environmental neurotoxicants and unmet basic needs on children’s acquisition of reading skill, specifically phonemic processing. Such findings identify potentially modifiable environmental risk factors implicated in reading problems in children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

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“…Margolis et al. ( 23 ) show that exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, a form of air pollution, during pregnancy interacted with maternal experience of psychosocial distress to predict hippocampal brain volume. Examining this relationship is critical given the known role of the hippocampus in stress responsivity, memory, and special processing function, with disruptions in hippocampal structure and function linked to risk for depression, anxiety, and psychosis ( 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Margolis et al. ( 23 ) show that among mothers experiencing stress, greater exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons strengthened associations with reduced hippocampal volumes in their school-age offspring, suggesting a potentiation of the negative associations of maternal stress with offspring outcomes in the context of exposure to ambient pollution. Widom et al.…”

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confidence: 99%

Introduction to the Special Issue on the Exposome—Understanding Environmental Impacts on Brain Development and Risk for Psychopathology

Barch

2022

Biological Psychiatry Global Open Science

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Prenatal Exposure to Air Pollution and Early-Life Stress Effects on Hippocampal Subregional Volumes and Associations With Visuospatial Reasoning

Cited by 15 publications

References 85 publications

Bridging the environment and neurodevelopment for children’s health: Associations between real-time air pollutant exposures and cognitive outcomes

Bridging the environment and neurodevelopment for children’s health: Associations between real-time air pollutant exposures and cognitive outcomes

Effects of prenatal polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and childhood material hardship on reading achievement in school-age children: A preliminary study

Introduction to the Special Issue on the Exposome—Understanding Environmental Impacts on Brain Development and Risk for Psychopathology

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