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Maternal Cortisol Concentrations During Pregnancy and Sex-Specific Associations With Neonatal Amygdala Connectivity

Alice M Graham1, Jerod M Rasmussen2, Sonja Entringer3

  • 1Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon.

Biological Psychiatry
|August 21, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Maternal cortisol during pregnancy affects neonatal amygdala connectivity differently in boys and girls. Elevated cortisol is linked to higher internalizing behaviors in girls, mediated by amygdala connectivity, offering insight into sex differences in psychiatric disorders.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Endocrinology

Background:

  • Maternal cortisol during pregnancy can impact fetal brain development.
  • Understanding this link is crucial for neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders.
  • More research is needed on maternal cortisol and early offspring neurodevelopment.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between maternal cortisol levels across pregnancy and neonatal amygdala connectivity.
  • To explore sex-specific effects of maternal cortisol on infant brain development.
  • To examine the relationship between maternal cortisol, neonatal amygdala connectivity, and later internalizing behaviors.

Main Methods:

  • Serial assessment of maternal cortisol over 4 days in early, mid, and late gestation.
  • Resting-state functional connectivity MRI of the neonatal amygdala.
  • Assessment of internalizing behavior problems in children at 24 months.

Main Results:

  • Maternal cortisol showed sex-specific associations with neonatal amygdala connectivity.
  • Elevated maternal cortisol linked to stronger amygdala connectivity in girls and weaker in boys.
  • Higher maternal cortisol correlated with increased internalizing symptoms in girls, mediated by amygdala connectivity.

Conclusions:

  • Pregnancy maternal cortisol variation influences neonatal amygdala function in a sex-specific manner.
  • A pathway exists from maternal cortisol to internalizing symptoms in girls via amygdala connectivity.
  • Findings may explain sex differences in internalizing psychiatric disorders prevalence.
Abstract

Keywords:
AmygdalaCortisolInfancyInternalizingPregnancyResting state functional connectivity MRI

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