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An examination of maternal prenatal BMI and human fetal brain development
Megan E Norr1, Jasmine L Hect2, Carly J Lenniger3
1Department of Psychology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Insights
Maternal obesity during pregnancy alters fetal brain connectivity between key regions, potentially impacting offspring cognitive development and mental health. These prenatal brain changes may explain long-term health risks associated with high maternal Body Mass Index (BMI).
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
- Public Health
Background:
- Prenatal development is a critical period for brain development, highly susceptible to environmental influences.
- Maternal obesity (Body Mass Index [BMI] > 30) is a significant risk factor linked to adverse offspring health outcomes.
- High maternal BMI during pregnancy may affect fetal brain organization even before birth.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of maternal prenatal Body Mass Index (BMI) on the macrocircuitry and functional connectivity of the developing human fetal brain.
- To determine if variations in fetal neural network connectivity correlate with maternal BMI levels.
Main Methods:
- Utilized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) functional connectivity analysis in 109 fetuses (26-39 weeks gestation).
- Employed a data-driven approach to parcellate the fetal brain into subnetworks.
- Examined connectivity within and between subnetworks in relation to maternal BMI.
Main Results:
- Found significant associations between maternal BMI and functional connectivity strength between the left anterior insula/inferior frontal gyrus (aIN/IFG) and bilateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) subnetworks.
- Observed increased within-hemisphere and decreased cross-hemisphere connectivity in higher BMI pregnancies.
- Maternal BMI did not influence global network topography.
Conclusions:
- Maternal obesity is associated with altered fetal brain connectome organization, specifically in regions supporting behavioral regulation.
- These prenatal neural differences may underlie long-term cognitive and mental health risks in offspring.
- Establishes an early-onset biological pathway linking maternal BMI to offspring neurodevelopmental trajectories.
Background:
Prenatal development is a time when the brain is acutely vulnerable to insult and alteration by environmental factors (e.g., toxins, maternal health). One important risk factor is maternal obesity (Body Mass Index > 30). Recent research indicates that high maternal BMI during pregnancy is associated with increased risk for numerous physical health, cognitive, and mental health problems in offspring across the lifespan. It is possible that heightened maternal prenatal BMI influences the developing brain even before birth.
Methods:
The present study examines this possibility at the level of macrocircuitry in the human fetal brain. Using a data-driven strategy for parcellating the brain into subnetworks, we test whether MRI functional connectivity within or between fetal neural subnetworks varies with maternal prenatal BMI in 109 fetuses between the ages of 26 and 39weeks.
Results:
We discovered that strength of connectivity between two subnetworks, left anterior insula/inferior frontal gyrus (aIN/IFG) and bilateral prefrontal cortex (PFC), varied with maternal BMI. At the level of individual aIN/IFG-PFC connections, we observed both increased and decreased between-network connectivity with a tendency for increased within-hemisphere connectivity and reduced cross-hemisphere connectivity in higher BMI pregnancies. Maternal BMI was not associated with global differences in network topography based on network-based statistical analyses.
Conclusions:
Overall effects were localized in regions that will later support behavioral regulation and integrative processes, regions commonly associated with obesity-related deficits. By establishing onset in neural differences prior to birth, this study supports a model in which maternal BMI-related risk is associated with fetal connectome-level brain organization with implications for offspring long-term cognitive development and mental health.
