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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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The Placenta as a Mediator of Stress Effects on Neurodevelopmental Reprogramming

Stefanie L Bronson1, Tracy L Bale1

  • 1Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Neuropsychopharmacology : Official Publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
|August 8, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Maternal stress during pregnancy can increase offspring susceptibility to neuropsychiatric disorders. The placenta plays a key role in transmitting these adverse effects, leading to sex-specific impacts on brain development.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Biology
  • Reproductive Biology

Background:

  • Maternal stress during gestation is linked to increased lifetime risk of neuropsychiatric diseases.
  • Prenatal stress predisposes offspring to sex-biased neurodevelopmental disorders like schizophrenia, ADHD, and ASD.
  • Animal models reveal disease-relevant endophenotypes in prenatally stressed offspring.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the placenta's role in mediating the effects of maternal stress on fetal brain development.
  • To highlight the sex-specific outcomes associated with prenatal stress exposure.
  • To explore the placenta as a critical intermediary in transmitting adverse maternal environments.

Main Methods:

  • Literature review of studies investigating maternal stress, placental function, and offspring neurodevelopment.
  • Analysis of animal models demonstrating endophenotypes in prenatally stressed offspring.
  • Examination of the placenta's role as a maternal-fetal interface.

Main Results:

  • The placenta is crucial in conveying maternal stress effects to the developing embryo.
  • Placental function disruption significantly impacts fetal brain development.
  • These developmental outcomes are largely sex-specific.

Conclusions:

  • The placenta is a key player in the sex-specific programming of neuropsychiatric disease susceptibility due to maternal stress.
  • Understanding placental mechanisms is vital for addressing the impact of prenatal adversity on brain development.
  • Further research into the placenta's role can inform interventions for neurodevelopmental disorders.

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