No evidence for association between late pregnancy maternal cortisol and gray matter volume in a healthy community sample of young adolescents
A compelling amount of animal and human research has shown that perceived maternal stress during pregnancy can affect the neurodevelopment of the offspring. Prenatal maternal cortisol is frequently proposed as the biological key mechanism underlying this link; however, literature that investigates t...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2022.893847/full |
| _version_ | 1797999651439247360 |
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| author | Anna Tyborowska Anna Tyborowska Anna Tyborowska Katharina Gruber Roseriet Beijers Roseriet Beijers Simone Kühn Simone Kühn Karin Roelofs Karin Roelofs Carolina de Weerth |
| author_facet | Anna Tyborowska Anna Tyborowska Anna Tyborowska Katharina Gruber Roseriet Beijers Roseriet Beijers Simone Kühn Simone Kühn Karin Roelofs Karin Roelofs Carolina de Weerth |
| author_sort | Anna Tyborowska |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A compelling amount of animal and human research has shown that perceived maternal stress during pregnancy can affect the neurodevelopment of the offspring. Prenatal maternal cortisol is frequently proposed as the biological key mechanism underlying this link; however, literature that investigates the effects of prenatal cortisol on subsequent neurodevelopment in humans is scarce. By using longitudinal data from a relatively large community sample of mother–child dyads (N = 73), this pre-registered study prospectively examined the role of maternal prenatal cortisol concentrations on subsequent individual differences in gray matter volume (GMV) and hippocampal subfield volumes at the onset of puberty of the offspring (12 years of age). Two markers of cortisol, that is, evening cortisol and circadian decline over the day, were used as indicators of maternal physiological stress during the last trimester of pregnancy. The results indicate that prenatal maternal cortisol levels were not associated with GMV or hippocampal subfield volumes of the children. These findings suggest that late pregnancy maternal cortisol may not be related to the structural development of the offspring’s brain, at least not in healthy community samples and at the onset of puberty. When examining the influence of prenatal stress on offspring neurodevelopment, future investigations should delineate gestational timing effects of the cortisol exposure, cortisol assessment method, and impact of additional biomarkers, as these were not investigated in this study. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:08:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-047fc8018ffb48c98ae1dfd11fc0fcc9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-453X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T11:08:04Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-047fc8018ffb48c98ae1dfd11fc0fcc92022-12-22T04:28:14ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2022-08-011610.3389/fnins.2022.893847893847No evidence for association between late pregnancy maternal cortisol and gray matter volume in a healthy community sample of young adolescentsAnna Tyborowska0Anna Tyborowska1Anna Tyborowska2Katharina Gruber3Roseriet Beijers4Roseriet Beijers5Simone Kühn6Simone Kühn7Karin Roelofs8Karin Roelofs9Carolina de Weerth10Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, NetherlandsDonders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, NetherlandsDepartment of Psychiatry, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, NetherlandsDepartment of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, NetherlandsBehavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, NetherlandsDepartment of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, NetherlandsLise Meitner Group for Environmental Neuroscience, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, GermanyClinic and Policlinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Clinic Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, GermanyBehavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, NetherlandsDonders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, NetherlandsDepartment of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, NetherlandsA compelling amount of animal and human research has shown that perceived maternal stress during pregnancy can affect the neurodevelopment of the offspring. Prenatal maternal cortisol is frequently proposed as the biological key mechanism underlying this link; however, literature that investigates the effects of prenatal cortisol on subsequent neurodevelopment in humans is scarce. By using longitudinal data from a relatively large community sample of mother–child dyads (N = 73), this pre-registered study prospectively examined the role of maternal prenatal cortisol concentrations on subsequent individual differences in gray matter volume (GMV) and hippocampal subfield volumes at the onset of puberty of the offspring (12 years of age). Two markers of cortisol, that is, evening cortisol and circadian decline over the day, were used as indicators of maternal physiological stress during the last trimester of pregnancy. The results indicate that prenatal maternal cortisol levels were not associated with GMV or hippocampal subfield volumes of the children. These findings suggest that late pregnancy maternal cortisol may not be related to the structural development of the offspring’s brain, at least not in healthy community samples and at the onset of puberty. When examining the influence of prenatal stress on offspring neurodevelopment, future investigations should delineate gestational timing effects of the cortisol exposure, cortisol assessment method, and impact of additional biomarkers, as these were not investigated in this study.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2022.893847/fullglucocorticoidsprenatalfetalbrainGMVadolescence |
| spellingShingle | Anna Tyborowska Anna Tyborowska Anna Tyborowska Katharina Gruber Roseriet Beijers Roseriet Beijers Simone Kühn Simone Kühn Karin Roelofs Karin Roelofs Carolina de Weerth No evidence for association between late pregnancy maternal cortisol and gray matter volume in a healthy community sample of young adolescents Frontiers in Neuroscience glucocorticoids prenatal fetal brain GMV adolescence |
| title | No evidence for association between late pregnancy maternal cortisol and gray matter volume in a healthy community sample of young adolescents |
| title_full | No evidence for association between late pregnancy maternal cortisol and gray matter volume in a healthy community sample of young adolescents |
| title_fullStr | No evidence for association between late pregnancy maternal cortisol and gray matter volume in a healthy community sample of young adolescents |
| title_full_unstemmed | No evidence for association between late pregnancy maternal cortisol and gray matter volume in a healthy community sample of young adolescents |
| title_short | No evidence for association between late pregnancy maternal cortisol and gray matter volume in a healthy community sample of young adolescents |
| title_sort | no evidence for association between late pregnancy maternal cortisol and gray matter volume in a healthy community sample of young adolescents |
| topic | glucocorticoids prenatal fetal brain GMV adolescence |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2022.893847/full |
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