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Profiling Maternal Behavior Responses During Whole-Brain Imaging
Published on: January 24, 2025
Neonatal Brain Response to Deviant Auditory Stimuli and Relation to Maternal Trait Anxiety
Chad M Sylvester1, Michael J Myers1, Michael T Perino1
1Department of Psychiatry (Sylvester, Myers, Perino, T.A. Smyser, Barch, Luby, Rogers), Department of Neurology (Kaplan, Kenley, C.D. Smyser), Department of Pediatrics (Warner, Rogers, C.D. Smyser), Department of Radiology (Barch, C.D. Smyser), and Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences (Barch), Washington University, St. Louis; Emotion and Development Branch, NIMH, Bethesda, Md. (Pine).
Insights
Newborns show a strong brain response to unexpected sounds, similar to adults. Higher maternal anxiety is linked to heightened responses in brain areas associated with anxiety disorders, suggesting early risk markers.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Excessive responses to unexpected stimuli in early life are linked to anxiety disorders.
- Specific brain regions involved in neonatal responses to deviant stimuli and their relation to anxiety risk are not well-defined.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify neonatal brain regions responding to deviant stimuli using functional MRI (fMRI).
- To investigate the relationship between neonatal deviant stimulus response and maternal trait anxiety.
Main Methods:
- fMRI was used to measure brain activity in 45 sleeping neonates (mean age 27.8 days) in response to deviant auditory stimuli.
- Maternal trait anxiety was assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory in 41 infants.
Main Results:
- Neonates exhibited a widespread neural response to deviant stimuli, mirroring adult patterns.
- Increased maternal trait anxiety correlated with heightened neural responses in regions like the anterior insula, ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex.
- These identified brain regions are implicated in adult anxiety and psychiatric disorders.
Conclusions:
- The neural circuitry for detecting deviant stimuli is functional at birth.
- Elevated responsiveness in specific neural circuits in newborns may indicate a predisposition to anxiety and other psychiatric conditions.
Objective:
Excessive response to unexpected or "deviant" stimuli during infancy and early childhood represents an early risk marker for anxiety disorders. However, research has yet to delineate the specific brain regions underlying the neonatal response to deviant stimuli near birth and the relation to risk for anxiety disorders. The authors used task-based functional MRI (fMRI) to delineate the neonatal response to deviant stimuli and its relationship to maternal trait anxiety.
Methods:
The authors used fMRI to measure brain activity evoked by deviant auditory stimuli in 45 sleeping neonates (mean age, 27.8 days; 60% female; 64% African American). In 41 of the infants, neural response to deviant stimuli was examined in relation to maternal trait anxiety on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, a familial risk factor for offspring anxiety.
Results:
Neonates manifested a robust and widespread neural response to deviant stimuli that resembles patterns found previously in adults. Higher maternal trait anxiety was related to higher responses within multiple brain regions, including the left and right anterior insula, the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, and multiple areas within the anterior cingulate cortex. These areas overlap with brain regions previously linked to anxiety disorders and other psychiatric illnesses in adults.
Conclusions:
The neural architecture sensitive to deviant stimuli robustly functions in newborns. Excessive responsiveness of some circuitry components at birth may signal risk for anxiety and other psychiatric disorders.
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