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Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants
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Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants

Published on: June 13, 2021

Prenatal maternal depression associates with microstructure of right amygdala in neonates at birth

Anne Rifkin-Graboi1, Jordan Bai, Helen Chen

  • 1Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Singapore.

Biological Psychiatry
|August 24, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Maternal depression during pregnancy is linked to altered amygdala microstructure in newborns, suggesting prenatal transmission of depression vulnerability. Early intervention for maternal depression is recommended.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Psychiatry

Background:

  • Maternal prenatal cortisol levels impact offspring amygdala development.
  • The precise timing of maternal influences on fetal brain development remains unclear.
  • Early life stress and maternal mental health are critical factors in offspring neurodevelopment.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between antenatal maternal depressive symptomatology and neonatal amygdala volume and microstructure.
  • To establish evidence for prenatal transmission of vulnerability for affective disorders.
  • To understand the impact of maternal depression on infant brain development during the prenatal period.

Main Methods:

  • Recruited pregnant mothers (10-13 weeks gestation) and assessed maternal depression at 26 weeks using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale.
  • Performed structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) on 157 newborns (6-14 days old).
  • Analyzed amygdala volume, fractional anisotropy (FA), and axial diffusivity (AD) in neonates.

Main Results:

  • Infants of mothers with high depressive symptomatology showed significantly lower right amygdala fractional anisotropy (FA) and axial diffusivity (AD) compared to infants of mothers with low-normal scores.
  • No significant difference in amygdala volume was observed between the groups.
  • Findings were adjusted for covariates including household income, maternal age, smoking exposure, postconceptual age, and birth weight.

Conclusions:

  • Antenatal maternal depression is significantly related to altered neonatal microstructure of the right amygdala.
  • This suggests prenatal transmission of vulnerability for mood and anxiety disorders from mother to child.
  • Interventions targeting maternal depression should be initiated early in pregnancy to mitigate potential long-term effects on the child.
Abstract

Keywords:
Affective disordersamygdalaantenatal depressiondiffusion tensor imagingmagnetic resonance imagingneonatal brain

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