Prenatal Exposure to Maternal Depression and Cortisol Influences Infant Temperament

Davis, Elysia Poggi; Glynn, Laura M.; Schetter, Christine Dunkel; Hobel, Calvin J.; Chicz-DeMet, Aleksandra; Sandman, Curt A.

doi:10.1097/chi.0b013e318047b775

Cited by 533 publications

(488 citation statements)

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“…The present findings are consistent with evidence from human studies indicating that exposure to elevated levels of maternal cortisol concentration during gestation is associated with risk factors for affective disorders, including anxious behavior and exaggerated stress reactivity (24)(25)(26). Our present study relied on naturally occurring variations in maternal biological stress signals and psychological states, rather than experimental manipulations.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…In humans, prenatal exposure to elevated levels of endogenous maternal glucocorticoids (24)(25)(26) and the administration of synthetic glucocorticoids (27)(28)(29)(30) is associated with HPA axis dysregulation, internalizing behavior, and social anxiety. Exposure to elevated glucocorticoids during gestation may increase vulnerability to affective disorders by altering the Author contributions: C.B., E.P.D., and C.A.S.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Buß

Davis²,

Shahbaba³

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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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.developmental programming | fetal origins | hypothalamus-pituitaryadrenal axis | depression | emotion regulation

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Buß

Davis²,

Shahbaba³

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

Self Cite

518

481

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The term " brain sparing " refers to relative protection of the brain, heart, and adrenals under conditions of chronic hypoxemia, through sacrifi ce of perfusion in liver, kidneys, intestine, integument, and extremities, but does not guarantee normal neurodevelopment after birth [33,37] . In fact, recent fi ndings demonstrate that in FGR fetuses " brain sparing " is a misleading expression because it could predict cognitive defi cits at the age of 5 years [9,12] . Recent studies suggest that the ACA may be a better predictor of adverse neurological outcome than the MCA [17] .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on this, it is not surprising that adverse pregnancy conditions, such as gestosis, FGR, famine during pregnancy (protein-energy malnutrition), and severe chronic maternal stress or depression have been linked to altered fetal movement patterns, echogenicity changes of the fetal brain, to higher incidence of neurodevelopmental disorders in childhood, and to occurrence of autism, schizophrenia, and epilepsy in the adult [1,3,5,9,12,16,32,40,41] .…”

Section: Fetal Behaviormentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison between antenatal neurodevelopmental test and fetal Doppler in the assessment of fetal well being

Kurjak

Talić

Honemeyer

et al. 2012

Journal of Perinatal Medicine

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Aims: The primary aim of this study was to compare circulatory changes in the fetal brain under certain pathological conditions with alterations in fetal behavior. Patients and methods: A prospective longitudinal cohort study on fetal behavior of fetuses from singleton pregnancies between the 28 th and 38 th gestational week in the period from March 2009 to October 2011 was undertaken. There were 596 fetuses in the high-risk group and 273 fetuses in the low-risk group. Elevated umbilical artery Doppler pulsatility index and reduced middle cerebral artery pulsatility index obtained in the absence of fetal movements were considered abnormal. The Kurjak Antenatal Neurodevelopmental Test (KANET) was used to assess fetal behavior. Results: Statistically signifi cant differences in the distribution of normal, abnormal, and borderline KANET scores between low-risk and high-risk groups were found. Furthermore, 596 fetuses from the high-risk group were subdivided into subgroups according to the risk factor. The largest proportion of abnormal KANET scores (23.9 % ) was in the subgroup of fetuses whose mothers had an offspring diagnosed with cerebral palsy (23.9 % ), followed by the proportion of borderline KANET scores in the subgroup of fetuses from febrile mothers (12.7 % ). Fetal behavior was signifi cantly different between the normal group and the following subgroups of fetuses: fetal growth restriction (FGR), gestational diabetes mellitus, threatened preterm birth, antepartal hemorrhage, maternal fever, sibling with cerebral palsy, and polyhydramnios. Conclusions: A new clinical application of the KANET test in early identifi cation of fetuses at risk for adverse neurological outcome was demonstrated.

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“…14 A study of population health data of over 100 000 pregnant women and their infants in Canada, showed that the offspring of women whose pregnancies were complicated by untreated depression, had statistically significant lower birth weights, higher rates of preterm birth, and more feeding and respirator y dif ficulties, than women who were not depressed. 15 Other studies have shown longer lasting adverse effects, with antenatal depression being associated with unsettled behaviour and sleep problems in neonates, 16 fearful infant temperament, 17 developmental delay at 18 months 18 and depression in adolescents. 19 The adverse ef fects of antenatal depression may even persist into adult life, as the above evidence suggests an adverse intrauterine environment, as manifested by low birth weight, small for gestational age babies and preterm birth, although the evidence for association with the former effects is less than that for preterm birth.…”

Section: Impact Of Depression On the Developing Foetus And Offspringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Management of depression during pregnancy

Osborne¹,

O’Keane²

2009

Prog Neurol Psychiatry

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Prenatal Exposure to Maternal Depression and Cortisol Influences Infant Temperament

Abstract: These data suggest that prenatal exposure to maternal stress has consequences for the development of infant temperament.

Cited by 533 publications

References 70 publications

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

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

Comparison between antenatal neurodevelopmental test and fetal Doppler in the assessment of fetal well being

Management of depression during pregnancy

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