Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 12, 2025
06:39
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
3.1K
Gestational stress influences cognition and behavior.
Curt A Sandman1, Elysia P Davis1,2
1333 City Drive West, Suite 1200, Department of Psychiatry & Human Behavior, University of California, Irvine, Orange, CA 92868, USA.
Future Neurology
|August 7, 2025
Summary
Early life stress during pregnancy can negatively impact fetal development, leading to lifelong health issues. Prospective studies show prenatal stress impairs neurological development and cognitive function in children.
Area of Science:
- Developmental origins of disease
- Neuroscience
- Maternal-fetal medicine
Background:
- The developmental origins of disease (DOD) model posits that early life exposures influence lifelong health.
- Most human studies supporting DOD are retrospective, using surrogate markers like birth weight.
- Emerging prospective studies investigate direct impacts of intrauterine conditions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the developmental consequences of intrauterine stress exposure.
- To evaluate the impact of gestational stress on neurological development.
- To synthesize evidence on fetal programming by adverse conditions.
Main Methods:
- Review of recent prospective studies on gestational stress.
- Analysis of studies measuring psychosocial and biological markers of adversity in pregnancy.
- Assessment of neurological and cognitive outcomes in fetuses, infants, and children.
Main Results:
- Fetal exposure to psychosocial and biological adversity significantly impacts neurological development.
- Early gestational stress is linked to delayed fetal maturation and impaired infant cognitive performance.
- Prenatal stress is associated with reduced brain volume in children, affecting learning and memory areas.
Conclusions:
- Fetal exposure to stress profoundly influences the developing nervous system.
- Adverse intrauterine conditions have lasting consequences for neurological development and cognitive function.
- Evidence supports the fetal programming model for stress-related health outcomes into childhood and beyond.
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