Publication Date
1-2017
Document Type
Article
Organizational Units
College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology
Keywords
Cortisol, Glucocorticoids, Prenatal, Fetal, Brain, Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Abstract
Glucocorticoids (cortisol in humans) are the end product of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis and are proposed as a key mechanism for programming fetal brain development. The present prospective longitudinal study evaluates the association between prenatal maternal cortisol concentrations and child neurodevelopment. Participants included a low risk sample of 91 mother-child pairs. Prenatal maternal plasma cortisol concentrations were measured at 19 and 31 gestational weeks. Brain development and cognitive functioning were assessed when children were 6–9 years of age. Structural magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired and cortical thickness was determined. Child cognitive functioning was evaluated using standardized measures (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children IV and Expressive Vocabulary Test, Second Edition). Higher maternal cortisol concentrations during the third trimester were associated with greater child cortical thickness primarily in frontal regions. No significant associations were observed between prenatal maternal cortisol concentrations and child cortical thinning. Elevated third trimester maternal cortisol additionally was associated with enhanced child cognitive performance. Findings in this normative sample of typically developing children suggest that elevated maternal cortisol during late gestation exert lasting benefits for brain development and cognitive functioning 6–9 years later. The benefits of fetal exposure to higher maternal cortisol during the third trimester for child neurodevelopment are consistent with the role cortisol plays in maturation of the human fetus. It is plausible that more extreme elevations in maternal cortisol concentrations late in gestation, as well as exposure to pharmacological levels of synthetic glucocorticoids, may have neurotoxic effects on the developing fetal brain.
Copyright Date
10-20-2016
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by Elsevier Ltd. User is responsible for all copyright compliance. This article was originally published as:
Davis, E. P., Head, K., Buss, C., & Sandman, C. A. (2017). Prenatal maternal cortisol concentrations predict neurodevelopment in middle childhood. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 75, 56-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.10.005
Accepted Manuscript is openly available with a CC BY 4.0 license through the "Download" button. Originally retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/4z60w4xm
The published Version of Record is available at libraries through Compass or Worldcat with All Rights Reserved.
Rights Holder
Elsevier Ltd.
Provenance
Received from CHORUS
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
20 pgs
File Size
524 KB
Publication Title
Psychoneuroendocrinology
Volume
75
First Page
56
Last Page
63
ISSN
1873-3360
Recommended Citation
Davis, E. P., Head, K., Buss, C., & Sandman, C. A. (2017). Prenatal maternal cortisol concentrations predict neurodevelopment in middle childhood. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 75, 56-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.10.005
Included in
Child Psychology Commons, Developmental Psychology Commons, Maternal and Child Health Commons, Neurology Commons