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Updated: Dec 28, 2025

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

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Maternal stressors and the developmental origins of neuropsychiatric risk

Seva G Khambadkone1, Zachary A Cordner2, Kellie L K Tamashiro1

  • 1Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Cellular & Molecular Medicine Graduate Program, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.

Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology
|February 22, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Maternal overnutrition during pregnancy, like stress and infection, increases offspring neuropsychiatric risk. Understanding shared pathways can help develop interventions for these complex neurodevelopmental disorders.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Biology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • The maternal environment significantly impacts fetal development and offspring health.
  • Maternal psychosocial stress and infection are known risk factors for offspring neuropsychiatric disorders.
  • Increasing rates of maternal obesity and Western-style diets present a growing public health concern.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review evidence linking maternal overnutrition to increased offspring neuropsychiatric risk.
  • To explore how maternal overnutrition, similar to other stressors, affects fetal development.
  • To identify converging pathophysiological pathways between different maternal stressors.

Main Methods:

  • Review of epidemiological studies.
  • Analysis of animal model evidence.
  • Integration of findings from psychosocial stress and infection literature.

Main Results:

  • Maternal overnutrition, alongside psychosocial stress and infection, is associated with elevated neuropsychiatric risk in offspring.
  • Altered maternal and placental physiology due to overnutrition can disrupt normal fetal development.
  • Shared pathophysiological mechanisms may underlie the effects of diverse maternal stressors.

Conclusions:

  • Maternal overnutrition represents a significant risk factor for offspring neuropsychiatric conditions.
  • Understanding common pathways across stressors like overnutrition, stress, and infection is crucial.
  • This knowledge can inform the development of broader interventions for neuropsychiatric disorders.

Keywords:
Allostatic loadAnxietyAutism spectrum disordersDepressionDevelopmental origins of health and diseaseInflammationMaternal dietMaternal immune activationMaternal obesityMaternal stressNeuropsychiatric riskSchizophrenia

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