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Prenatal depressive symptoms are associated with altered structural brain networks in infants and moderated by infant

Claire Donnici1, Lianne Tomfohr-Madsen2, Xiangyu Long3

  • 1Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.

Journal of Affective Disorders
|June 30, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Prenatal depressive symptoms negatively impact infant brain network development, particularly in areas for emotion regulation. Infant sleep duration may mitigate these effects, highlighting sleep's role in brain development.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Prenatal depressive symptoms prevalence surged during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Concerns exist regarding impacts on child sleep and brain development.
  • This study investigated links between prenatal depression, infant brain structure, and sleep.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine relationships between prenatal depressive symptoms and infant brain network structure.
  • To examine the role of infant sleep as a moderator in these associations.

Main Methods:

  • Recruited pregnant individuals for the Pregnancy during the Pandemic (PdP) study.
  • Assessed maternal depressive symptoms and infant sleep at 3 months.
  • Used diffusion MRI and tractography to analyze infant brain networks (default mode and limbic).

Main Results:

  • Prenatal depressive symptoms correlated with reduced clustering coefficient and local efficiency in infant default mode networks.
  • Infant sleep duration related to default mode network global efficiency.
  • Sleep duration moderated the link between prenatal depression and limbic network connectivity.

Conclusions:

  • Prenatal depressive symptoms affect early brain network development crucial for emotion regulation.
  • Infant sleep duration may play a protective role in mitigating negative impacts on brain connectivity.
  • Sleep is a potential factor influencing infant brain network development in the context of maternal prenatal depression.
Abstract

Keywords:
Graph theoryInfant sleepMRIPregnancy during the PandemicPrenatal depressionWhite matter

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