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Prenatal exposure to maternal and paternal depressive symptoms and white matter microstructure in children
Hanan El Marroun1,2, Runyu Zou1,2, Ryan L Muetzel1,2
1The Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Erasmus MC, Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Insights
Prenatal maternal depression impacts child brain development, specifically white matter tracts like the uncinate fasciculus and cingulum bundle. These changes may stem from both intrauterine exposure and shared family factors.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Prenatal maternal depression is linked to offspring issues in affect, cognition, and neuroendocrine function, suggesting impacts on neurodevelopment.
- The precise neurodevelopmental mechanisms of prenatal depression remain unclear.
- This study investigates the relationship between maternal depressive symptoms and white matter microstructure in children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the association between maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy and at 3 years postpartum with white matter microstructure in children.
- To assess the influence of paternal depressive symptoms to account for genetic or familial confounding factors.
Main Methods:
- Prospective study of 690 children.
- Maternal and paternal depressive symptoms measured using the Brief Symptom Inventory.
- White matter microstructure assessed using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in children aged 6-9 years, measuring fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD).
Main Results:
- Maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy were associated with increased mean diffusivity (MD) in the uncinate fasciculus and cingulum bundle.
- Prenatal exposure to maternal depression was also linked to lower fractional anisotropy (FA) and higher MD in the cingulum bundle.
- No significant associations were found between maternal depressive symptoms at 3 years postpartum and white matter characteristics. Paternal depressive symptoms showed a trend towards lower FA in the cingulum bundle.
Conclusions:
- Prenatal maternal depressive symptoms are associated with altered white matter microstructure, specifically in the uncinate fasciculus and cingulum bundle, which are key limbic system structures.
- The observed effects may be partly attributed to genetic predisposition and shared family environmental factors, in addition to intrauterine effects.
- These findings highlight the lasting impact of prenatal maternal mental health on child neurodevelopment.
Background:
Prenatal maternal depression has been associated with multiple problems in offspring involving affect, cognition, and neuroendocrine functioning. This suggests that prenatal depression influences neurodevelopment. However, the underlying neurodevelopmental mechanism remains unclear. We prospectively assessed whether maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy and at the child's age 3 years are related to white matter microstructure in 690 children. The association of paternal depressive symptoms with childhood white matter microstructure was assessed to evaluate genetic or familial confounding.
Methods:
Parental depressive symptoms were measured using the Brief Symptom Inventory. In children aged 6-9 years, we used diffusion tensor imaging to assess white matter microstructure characteristics including fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD).
Results:
Exposure to maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy was associated with higher MD in the uncinate fasciculus and to lower FA and higher MD in the cingulum bundle. No associations of maternal depressive symptoms at the child's age of 3 years with white matter characteristics were observed. Paternal depressive symptoms also showed a trend toward significance for a lower FA in the cingulum bundle.
Conclusions:
Prenatal maternal depressive symptoms were associated with higher MD in the uncinate fasciculus and the cingulum bundle. These structures are part of the limbic system, which is involved in motivation, emotion, learning, and memory. As paternal depressive symptoms were also related to lower FA in the cingulum, the observed effect may partly reflect a genetic predisposition and shared environmental family factors and to a lesser extent a specific intrauterine effect.
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