Subcortical brain volumes in young infants exposed to antenatal maternal depression: Findings from a South African birth cohort

•It is not known when maternal depression exposure first impacts child brain structure.•The amygdala and caudate were enlarged after antenatal maternal depression exposure.•Exposed female, but not exposed male infants, also showed an enlarged hippocampus.•Volumetric differences are present at 2–6 we...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:NeuroImage clinical 2022-01, Vol.36, p.103206, Article 103206
Main Authors: Groenewold, Nynke A., Wedderburn, Catherine J., Pellowski, Jennifer A., Fouché, Jean-Paul, Michalak, Liza, Roos, Annerine, Woods, Roger P., Narr, Katherine L., Zar, Heather J., Donald, Kirsten A., Stein, Dan J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Amygdala - diagnostic imaging
Birth Cohort
Brain - diagnostic imaging
Brain morphometry
Caudate Nucleus
Child
Child development
Depressive Disorder
Depressive disorders
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Magnetic resonance imaging
Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods
Pregnancy
Prenatal stress
Regular
Sex differences
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Summary:•It is not known when maternal depression exposure first impacts child brain structure.•The amygdala and caudate were enlarged after antenatal maternal depression exposure.•Exposed female, but not exposed male infants, also showed an enlarged hippocampus.•Volumetric differences are present at 2–6 weeks of age and thus may originate in utero. Several studies have reported enlarged amygdala and smaller hippocampus volumes in children and adolescents exposed to maternal depression. It is unclear whether similar volumetric differences are detectable in the infants’ first weeks of life, following exposure in utero. We investigated subcortical volumes in 2-to-6 week old infants exposed to antenatal maternal depression (AMD) from a South African birth cohort. AMD was measured with the Beck Depression Inventory 2nd edition (BDI-II) at 28–32 weeks gestation. T2-weighted structural images were acquired during natural sleep on a 3T Siemens Allegra scanner. Subcortical regions were segmented based on the University of North Carolina neonatal brain atlas. Volumetric estimates were compared between AMD-exposed (BDI-II ⩾ 20) and unexposed (BDI-II 
ISSN:2213-1582
2213-1582
DOI:10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103206