High pregnancy anxiety during mid-gestation is associated with decreased gray matter density in 6-9-year-old children. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2010 Jan;35(1):141-53
Date
08/14/2009Pubmed ID
19674845Pubmed Central ID
PMC2795128DOI
10.1016/j.psyneuen.2009.07.010Scopus ID
2-s2.0-71849112177 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 343 CitationsAbstract
Because the brain undergoes dramatic changes during fetal development it is vulnerable to environmental insults. There is evidence that maternal stress and anxiety during pregnancy influences birth outcome but there are no studies that have evaluated the influence of stress during human pregnancy on brain morphology. In the current prospective longitudinal study we included 35 women for whom serial data on pregnancy anxiety was available at 19 (+/-0.83), 25 (+/-0.9) and 31 (+/-0.9) weeks gestation. When the offspring from the target pregnancy were between 6 and 9 years of age, their neurodevelopmental stage was assessed by a structural MRI scan. With the application of voxel-based morphometry, we found regional reductions in gray matter density in association with pregnancy anxiety after controlling for total gray matter volume, age, gestational age at birth, handedness and postpartum perceived stress. Specifically, independent of postnatal stress, pregnancy anxiety at 19 weeks gestation was associated with gray matter volume reductions in the prefrontal cortex, the premotor cortex, the medial temporal lobe, the lateral temporal cortex, the postcentral gyrus as well as the cerebellum extending to the middle occipital gyrus and the fusiform gyrus. High pregnancy anxiety at 25 and 31 weeks gestation was not significantly associated with local reductions in gray matter volume.This is the first prospective study to show that a specific temporal pattern of pregnancy anxiety is related to specific changes in brain morphology. Altered gray matter volume in brain regions affected by prenatal maternal anxiety may render the developing individual more vulnerable to neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders as well as cognitive and intellectual impairment.
Author List
Buss C, Davis EP, Muftuler LT, Head K, Sandman CAAuthor
Lutfi Tugan Muftuler PhD Professor in the Neurosurgery department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdultAnxiety
Brain
Child
Female
Gestational Age
Humans
Longitudinal Studies
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Postpartum Period
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Complications
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
Prospective Studies
Risk
Socioeconomic Factors
