Article
Psychiatry
Sandra P. Zoubovsky, Michael T. Williams, Sarah Hoseus, Shivani Tumukuntala, Amy Riesenberg, Jay Schulkin, Charles V. Vorhees, Kenneth Campbell, Hee-Woong Lim, Louis J. Muglia
Summary: Prenatal stress in mice leads to anxiety-like behavior and increased activity of the HPA axis. Evidence of fetal amygdala programming precedes these abnormalities. In adult offspring, there are sex-specific amygdalar transcriptional changes and dysfunction in neurotransmitter systems. These abnormalities are primarily driven by in-utero stress exposure, but postnatal maternal care changes can reverse anxiety-related behaviors and partially rescue gene alterations associated with neurotransmission.
TRANSLATIONAL PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Moriah E. Thomason, Jasmine L. Hect, Rebecca Waller, Paul Curtin
Summary: Maternal prenatal stress is associated with variations in fetal brain functional connectivity, with stronger effects observed in women with better health behaviors, positive interpersonal support, and lower overall stress. Additionally, the differences in neural connectivity due to stress are marginally correlated with younger gestational age at delivery. This study provides the first evidence of how negative affect and stress during pregnancy can impact fetal brain programming.
NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Genetics & Heredity
Sandra L. L. Rodriguez-Zas, Bruce R. R. Southey, Haley E. E. Rymut, Laurie A. A. Rund, Rodney W. W. Johnson
Summary: The hippocampus plays a role in spatial navigation, behavior processes, and neuropsychiatric diseases. Inflammatory prenatal and postnatal challenges can disrupt hippocampal gene networks. A study using a pig model found that the effects of maternal immune activation, postnatal stress, and sex on the hippocampal transcriptome can be influenced by fasting and cancel out each other. Transcription factors related to prenatal and postnatal factors were identified. These findings can help identify molecular targets to alleviate the effects of stressors on hippocampal physiology and behavior.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Claire Donnici, Xiangyu Long, Deborah Dewey, Nicole Letourneau, Bennett Landman, Yuankai Huo, Catherine Lebel
Summary: The study found that maternal anxiety symptoms during pregnancy were associated with children's amygdala structure and function, potentially affecting behavioral outcomes in children. Postnatal maternal anxiety symptoms were also found to be related to child amygdala volume, but this association was not significant when controlling for total brain volume.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Edward B. Quinn, Chu J. Hsiao, Felicien M. Maisha, Connie J. Mulligan
Summary: Prenatal maternal stress has been found to have negative effects on child health, but the exact mechanisms are not well understood. This study in the Democratic Republic of Congo examined the impact of maternal stress on DNA methylation in mothers and newborns. It was found that different types of trauma, such as sexual trauma and war trauma, were associated with changes in DNA methylation in both mothers and newborns, while chronic stress did not have such an effect.
Article
Neurosciences
Yonghui Wu, Han Zhang, Changqing Wang, Birit F. P. Broekman, Yap-Seng Chong, Lynette P. Shek, Peter D. Gluckman, Michael J. Meaney, Marielle Fortier, Anqi Qiu
Summary: This study found that 22 cytokine genes are expressed in specific brain regions in utero, with variants playing a role in modulating the effects of the prenatal environment on accelerated fetal development. Newborns with high expression scores in certain genes showed differences in brain development related to maternal depressive symptoms. This suggests that cytokine genes may play a role in modulating fetal brain development in response to the maternal environment.
NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Long Mei, Rongzhen Yan, Luping Yin, Regina M. Sullivan, Dayu Lin
Summary: In many species, there is a notable difference in pup-directed behaviors exhibited by female animals based on their reproductive state. Naive wild female mice often kill pups, while lactating female mice are dedicated to pup caring. The neural mechanisms underlying these behaviors and their transition remain unclear. This study focuses on the hypothesis that maternal and infanticidal behaviors are supported by distinct and competing neural circuits. It identifies three brain regions connected to the medial preoptic area (MPOA) that drive differential negative pup-directed behaviors.
Article
Psychiatry
Anqi Qiu, Han Zhang, Changqing Wang, Yap-Seng Chong, Lynette P. Shek, Peter D. Gluckman, Michael J. Meaney, Marielle V. Fortier, Yonghui Wu
Summary: The study found that the canonical TGF-beta signaling pathway plays a modulatory role in linking prenatal maternal depressive symptoms and amygdala volumes from birth to 6 years of age, with genetic variants of TGF-beta RI being particularly important in this relationship.
TRANSLATIONAL PSYCHIATRY
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Tom Salomon, Adi Cohen, Daniel Barazany, Gal Ben-Zvi, Rotem Botvinik-Nezer, Rani Gera, Shiran Oren, Dana Roll, Gal Rozic, Anastasia Saliy, Niv Tik, Galia Tsarfati, Ido Tavor, Tom Schonberg, Yaniv Assaf
Summary: The study suggests that the brains of healthy individuals may undergo transient volumetric changes related to stress and anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. These changes decrease over time following the lifting of lockdown measures, indicating that intense experiences associated with the pandemic play a role.
Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Marion Charrier, Sophie Lumineau, Marion Georgelin, Maryse Meurisse, Rupert Palme, Frederic Angelier, Fabien Cornilleau, Paul Constantin, Vincent Coustham, Celine Nicolle, Aline Bertin, Anne-Sophie Darmaillacq, Ludovic Dickel, Daniel Guemene, Ludovic Calandreau, Cecilia Houdelier
Summary: Prenatal maternal stress affects the emotional reactivity and cognitive abilities of offspring. The study found that PMS increases emotional reactivity in quail offspring and leads to an increased density of H3K27me3 positive cells in brain regions involved in emotional responses.
PSYCHONEUROENDOCRINOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Immunology
Yue Sun, Runxiang Xie, Lu Li, Ge Jin, Bingqian Zhou, Huan Huang, Mengfan Li, Yunwei Yang, Xiang Liu, Xiaocang Cao, Bangmao Wang, Wentian Liu, Kui Jiang, Hailong Cao
Summary: Prenatal maternal stress may affect the gut microbiota and neuroimmune network of offspring, resulting in impaired intestinal development and increased susceptibility.
FRONTIERS IN IMMUNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Neurosciences
Megan G. McGill, Irina Pokhvisneva, Andrew S. Clappison, Lisa M. McEwen, Roseriet Beijers, Marieke S. Tollenaar, Hung Pham, Michelle Z. L. Kee, Elika Garg, Euclides J. de Mendonca Filho, Neerja Karnani, Patricia P. Silveira, Michael S. Kobor, Carolina de Weerth, Michael J. Meaney, Kieran J. O'Donnell
Summary: Prenatal maternal anxiety predicts child PedBE epigenetic age acceleration, predominantly in males. PedBE age acceleration predicts increased externalizing symptoms in males in the BIBO cohort.
BIOLOGICAL PSYCHIATRY
(2022)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Fernando Estevez-Lopez, Lorenza Dall'Aglio, Maria Rodriguez-Ayllon, Bing Xu, Yueyue You, Charles H. Hillman, Ryan L. Muetzel, Henning Tiemeier
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the longitudinal associations between physical activity and changes in brain morphology. By conducting magnetic resonance imaging on 1088 children aged 10 and 14, the study found that physical activity at age 10 was associated with an increase in amygdala volume in children aged 10 to 14, and child-reported physical activity was associated with an increase in hippocampal volume. These findings have implications for future public health interventions.
Article
Neurosciences
Xinyuan Li, Muhammad Naveed Iqbal Qureshi, David P. P. Laplante, Guillaume Elgbeili, Sherri Lee Jones, Suzanne King, Pedro Rosa-Neto
Summary: Studies have shown that prenatal maternal stress can alter the volumes and functional connectivity of the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex. It is unclear whether prenatal maternal stress affects the subdivision levels of these structures.
FRONTIERS IN HUMAN NEUROSCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Immunology
Zahra M. Clayborne, Runyu Zou, Stephen E. Gilman, Golam M. Khandaker, Deshayne B. Fell, Ian Colman, Hanan El Marroun
Summary: This study found associations between prenatal maternal stress and children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms, as well as explored the relationship between prenatal maternal stress and maternal inflammation during pregnancy. The results showed that prenatal maternal stress was related to children's internalizing and externalizing symptoms from 3 to 10 years of age. However, there was no evidence that maternal inflammation mediated the associations between prenatal maternal stress and children's symptoms.
BRAIN BEHAVIOR AND IMMUNITY
(2023)