Pandemic stress in pregnant mothers may affect anxiety regions of babies’ brains
June 20 2024 - 12:41PM
A critical part of the brain linked to risks for anxiety later in
life – the left amygdala – was significantly smaller by volume in
babies of mothers who reported stress during the COVID-19 pandemic,
according to a new manuscript published in JAMA Network Open.
The right hippocampus,
which governs spatial, visual and verbal memories, and the white
matter were also reduced in children whose mothers reported
stress.
The research from
Children’s National Hospital provides mounting evidence that
children of the pandemic, even those far too young to understand
it, need ongoing assessments of developmental or mental health
support later in life.
“Looking ahead, we want
to use this information – and studies with similar findings – to
empower pregnant mothers to request support to mitigate their
stress, especially in the event of another global health crisis,”
said Nickie Andescavage, M.D., a neonatologist and principal
investigator at the Center for Prenatal, Neonatal & Maternal
Health Research. “We also want to make sure babies born during
COVID-19 get the services that they need in life if they develop
anxiety or other mental health disorders.”
Researchers at the center
used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to compare the brains of 103
babies born between 2014 and 2019 prior to the pandemic to 59 born
between 2020 and 2022. Mothers who had COVID-19 or other
complications in their pregnancies were excluded. The babies
underwent MRI imaging while in utero and again soon after
delivery.
The mothers were
evaluated for stress and anxiety, using the Spielberger State-Train
Anxiety Inventory and other evidence-based scoring measures.
Pre-pandemic, 21% of mothers reported elevated symptoms of anxiety;
in the pandemic cohort, that number jumped to nearly 62%.
Their babies' brains were
also changed, as regions widely understood to control emotion and
anxiety displayed smaller volumes on MRI imaging. Given the global
impact of the pandemic and universal reports of mental distress
worldwide, the potential impact of these findings may impact an
entire generation of children born during the pandemic. The team is
just beginning to unravel the medical significance.
Catherine Limperopoulos,
Ph.D., director of the Center for Prenatal, Neonatal & Maternal
Health Research, said understanding the impact of stress is vital
in supporting the healthy development of young children. Current
studies are underway at her center to tease apart the role of
stress in prenatal development and examine its long-term impact on
development, including cognition, behavior and mental
health.
“We all know that being
pregnant can be quite stressful, and there are certain times of
collective stress that can provide us windows to understand how the
body and mind manage it,” Dr. Limperopoulos said. “At our center,
we care deeply about the health of mothers and babies, and our
researchers plan to continue investigating the role of stress in
development to continue building data to show that mental health
must be a greater priority.”
This study – “Prenatal
maternal psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic and
newborn brain development” – was supported by the National
Institutes of Health, the Intellectual and Developmental
Disabilities Research Center, and the A. James & Alice B. Clark
Foundation. You can read the full study in JAMA Network
Open.
Media contact:
Katie Shrader | media@childrensnational.org
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Hospital, based in Washington, D.C., was established in 1870 to
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Katie Shrader
Children's National Hospital
media@childrensnational.org