Publication Date
12-7-2021
Document Type
Article
Organizational Units
College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology
Keywords
Pregnancy, White matter microstructure, Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), Anxiety
Abstract
The prenatal period represents a critical time for brain growth and development. These rapid neurological advances render the fetus susceptible to various influences with life-long implications for mental health. Maternal distress signals are a dominant early life influence, contributing to birth outcomes and risk for offspring psychopathology. This prospective longitudinal study evaluated the association between prenatal maternal distress and infant white matter microstructure. Participants included a racially and socioeconomically diverse sample of 85 mother–infant dyads. Prenatal distress was assessed at 17 and 29 weeks’ gestational age (GA). Infant structural data were collected via diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) at 42–45 weeks’ postconceptional age. Findings demonstrated that higher prenatal maternal distress at 29 weeks’ GA was associated with increased fractional anisotropy, b = .283, t(64) = 2.319, p = .024, and with increased axial diffusivity, b = .254, t(64) = 2.067, p = .043, within the right anterior cingulate white matter tract. No other significant associations were found with prenatal distress exposure and tract fractional anisotropy or axial diffusivity at 29 weeks’ GA, or earlier in gestation.
Copyright Date
12-7-2021
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Publication Statement
Copyright is held by the authors. User is responsible for all copyright compliance. This article was originally published by Cambridge University Press as:
Demers, C. H., Bagonis, M. M., Al-Ali, K., Garcia, S. E., Styner, M. A.,...,Davis, E. P. (2021). Exposure to prenatal maternal distress and infant white matter neurodevelopment. Development and Psychopathology 33(Special Issue 5), 1526-1538. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579421000742
Rights Holder
Catherine H. Demers, Maria M. Bagonis, Khalid Al-Ali, Sarah E. Garcia, Martin A. Styner, John H. Gilmore, M. Camille Hoffman, Benjamin L. Hankin, Elysia Poggi Davis
Provenance
Received from author
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
13 pgs
File Size
592 KB
Publication Title
Development and Psychopathology
Volume
33(Special Issue 5)
First Page
1526
Last Page
1538
ISSN
1469-2198
Recommended Citation
Demers, Catherine H.; Bagonis, Maria M.; Al-Ali, Khalid; Garcia, Sarah E.; Styner, Martin A.; Gilmore, John H.; Hoffman, M. Camille; Hankin, Benjamin L.; and Davis, Elysia Poggi, "Exposure to Prenatal Maternal Distress and Infant White Matter Neurodevelopment" (2021). Psychology: Faculty Scholarship. 182.
https://digitalcommons.du.edu/psychology_faculty/182
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579421000742