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HealthDay 21 June at 03.33 PM

Maternal Distress Tied to Changes in Brain Growth of Offspring


FRIDAY, June 21, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Regional neonatal brain volumes are associated with elevated maternal psychological distress, according to a study published online June 20 in JAMA Network Open.

Susan Weiner, from Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., and colleagues examined the association between the pandemic and rising maternal psychological distress with brain growth in newborns using quantitative three-dimensional volumetric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The analysis included 56 mother-infant dyads recruited during the pandemic and an existing, prepandemic normative healthy cohort (103 dyads).

The researchers found that scores on anxiety and stress measures were significantly increased in the pandemic cohort, and infants of mothers with elevated maternal distress showed median volume reductions in white matter (−0.36 cm3), right hippocampal (−0.35 cm3), and the left amygdala (−0.49 cm3) versus infants of mothers with low distress levels. Elevated trait anxiety remained significantly associated with decreased left amygdalar volumes (−0.71) when adjusting for the cohort effect of the pandemic.

"These findings suggest that increased maternal mental health symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic are associated with subsequent changes in regional brain growth in newborn offspring," the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text

#Psychiatry #Pediatrics #Family Practice #Neurology #OBGYN & Women's Health #Disturbance of cerebral status of newborn, unspecified (P91.9) #Other disturbances of cerebral status of newborn (P91) #Neonatal cerebral depression (P91.4) #Other specified disturbances of cerebral status of newborn (P91.88) #Neonatal cerebral leukomalacia (P91.2) #Other mental disorders complicating pregnancy, third trimester (O99.343) #Psychological abuse complicating pregnancy, third trimester (O9A.513) #Maternal distress during labor and delivery (O75.0) #Other mental disorders complicating pregnancy, unspecified trimester (O99.340) #Labor and delivery complicated by fetal stress, unspecified (O77.9) #Psychological abuse complicating pregnancy, second trimester (O9A.512) #Psychological abuse complicating pregnancy, unspecified trimester (O9A.519) #Anxiety disorder, unspecified (F41.9) #Worries (R45.82) #Labor and delivery complicated by other evidence of fetal stress (O77.8) #Other fetal stress complicating labor and delivery (O77) #State of emotional shock and stress, unspecified (R45.7) #Acute stress reaction (F43.0) #Respiratory distress of newborn, unspecified (P22.9) #Other mental disorders complicating pregnancy, childbirth, and the puerperium (O99.34) #Psychological abuse complicating pregnancy (O9A.51)
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