Publication Date

12-15-2024

Document Type

Article

Organizational Units

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology

Keywords

Maternal adverse childhood experiences, Fractional anisotropy, White matter microstructure, Intergenerational transmission, DoHAD

Abstract

Background

Maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are robust predictors of mental health for both the exposed individual and the next generation; however, the pathway through which such intergenerational risk is conferred remains unknown. The current study evaluated the association between maternal ACEs and infant brain development, including an a priori focus on circuits implicated in emotional and sensory processing.

Methods

The sample included 101 mother-infant dyads from a longitudinal study. Maternal ACEs were assessed with the Adverse Childhood Questionnaire dichotomized into low (0 or 1) and high (≥2) groups. White matter microstructure, as indexed by fractional anisotropy (FA), was assessed using structural magnetic resonance imaging in infants (41.6–46.0 weeks' postconceptional age) within a priori tracts (the cingulum, fornix, uncinate, inferior frontal occipital fasciculus, and inferior longitudinal fasciculus). Exploratory analyses were also conducted across the whole brain.

Results

High maternal ACEs (≥2) were associated with decreased infant left inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) FA (F(1,94) = 7.78, p < .006) relative to infants of low ACE mothers. No group difference was observed within the right ILF following correction for multiple comparisons (F(1,95) = 4.29, p < .041). Follow-up analyses within the left ILF demonstrated associations between high maternal ACEs and increased left radial diffusivity (F(1,95) = 5.10, p < .006). Exploratory analyses demonstrated preliminary support for differences in visual processing networks (e.g., optic tract) as well as additional circuits less frequently examined in the context of early life adversity exposure (e.g., corticothalamic tract).

Conclusions

Maternal ACEs predict neural circuit development of the inferior longitudinal fasciculus. Findings suggest that early developing sensory circuits within the infant brain are susceptible to maternal adverse childhood experiences and may have implications for the maturation of higher-order emotional and cognitive circuits.

Copyright Date

8-23-2024

Copyright Statement / License for Reuse

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

Rights Holder

Catherine H. Demers, Benjamin L. Hankin, Mercedes Hoeflich Haase, Erin Todd, M. Camille Hoffman, C. Neill Epperson, Martin A. Styner, and Elysia Poggi Davis

Provenance

Received from Elsevier

File Format

application/pdf

Language

English (eng)

Extent

9 pgs

File Size

1.09 MB

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the Authors. User is responsible for all copyright compliance. This article was originally published as

Demers, C. H., Hankin, B. L., Haase, M. H., Todd, E., Hoffman, M. C., Epperson, C. N., Styner, M. A., & Davis, E. P. (2024). Maternal Adverse Childhood Experiences and Infant Visual-Limbic White Matter Development. Journal of Affective Disorders, 367, 49-57. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2024.08.146

Publication Title

Journal of Affective Disorders

Volume

367

First Page

49

Last Page

57

ISSN

0165-0327

PubMed ID

39191307

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