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Associations of Maternal Pre-Pregnancy BMI With Frontostriatal Connectivity in Young Children
Abdulmumin Ibrahim1, Liuyi Chen1, Elena Jansen1
1Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Insights
Maternal obesity during pregnancy linked to stronger frontostriatal brain connectivity in young children, impacting appetite control. This research highlights the importance of maternal pre-pregnancy BMI for child neurodevelopment and future health outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Public Health
Background:
- Maternal obesity is linked to offspring overweight and altered brain function.
- Few studies examine early childhood effects on frontostriatal networks governing appetite and inhibitory control.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the association between maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and functional connectivity in young children's frontostriatal networks.
- Examine how maternal weight status influences neural pathways related to appetite and body weight regulation.
Main Methods:
- Utilized resting-state functional MRI (rsfMRI) data from 83 children (ages 2-11).
- Assessed maternal pre-pregnancy Body Mass Index (BMI) and child functional connectivity of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) with frontal cortical regions.
- Controlled for maternal education, child sex, age, and current BMIz.
Main Results:
- Higher maternal pre-pregnancy BMI correlated with increased positive functional connectivity between the NAcc and rostral prefrontal cortex/frontal pole in children.
- Sensitivity analyses confirmed the effect was driven by higher maternal weight, not lower weight.
Conclusions:
- Increased maternal BMI during pregnancy is associated with enhanced frontostriatal connectivity in early childhood.
- Further research with comprehensive measures of maternal/child adiposity and metabolic health is needed.
- Findings suggest potential implications for appetite regulation and future interventions.
Background:
Maternal obesity during pregnancy has previously been associated with increased body weight and altered brain structure and function in offspring. However, few studies have included young children or specifically examined effects on functional connectivity of frontostriatal networks undergirding functions implicated in appetite and body weight, such as reward processing and inhibitory control.
Methods:
We analysed resting state functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (rsfMRI) data for 83 children (ages 2-11 years) from the RESONANCE cohort who were born to mothers ranging in BMI as assessed pre-pregnancy (BMI: mean ± SD = 26.8 ± 7.8, range = 18.3-50.1). We examined associations between maternal BMI and child functional connectivity of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) with three regions in the frontal cortex.
Results:
Analyses controlling for maternal education and for child sex, age and current BMIz demonstrated that higher maternal pre-pregnancy BMI was associated with stronger positive connectivity of NAcc with rostral prefrontal cortex and frontal pole. Stratified sensitivity analyses demonstrated that child effects were driven by weight variation among mothers with higher weights rather than representing an effect of lower maternal weight.
Conclusion:
Our analysis found that increased BMI during pregnancy was associated with stronger positive frontostriatal connectivity in young children. Prospective studies incorporating gold-standard measures of maternal and child adiposity and metabolic health as well as behavioural and cognitive measures are needed to understand implications and inform future interventions.
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