Maternal support in early childhood predicts larger hippocampal volumes at school age

Early maternal support has been shown to promote specific gene expression, neurogenesis, adaptive stress responses, and larger hippocampal volumes in developing animals. In humans, a relationship between psychosocial factors in early childhood and later amygdala volumes based on prospective data has...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2012-02, Vol.109 (8), p.2854-2859
Main Authors: Luby, Joan L, Barch, Deanna M, Belden, Andy, Gaffrey, Michael S, Tillman, Rebecca, Babb, Casey, Nishino, Tomoyuki, Suzuki, Hideo, Botteron, Kelly N
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Brain
Child
Child Care
Child, Preschool
Childhood
Childhood mental disorders
Depression - pathology
Depressive disorders
Developmental biology
Female
Gene expression
Hippocampus
Hippocampus - anatomy & histology
Humans
longitudinal studies
Major depressive disorder
Male
maternal effect
Mental depression
Models, Biological
Mothers
neurogenesis
Nurturance
Organ Size
parenting
Parents & parenting
Preschool children
Preschool education
psychosocial factors
public health
School age children
Social Sciences
Stress response
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Summary:Early maternal support has been shown to promote specific gene expression, neurogenesis, adaptive stress responses, and larger hippocampal volumes in developing animals. In humans, a relationship between psychosocial factors in early childhood and later amygdala volumes based on prospective data has been demonstrated, providing a key link between early experience and brain development. Although much retrospective data suggests a link between early psychosocial factors and hippocampal volumes in humans, to date there has been no prospective data to inform this potentially important public health issue. In a longitudinal study of depressed and healthy preschool children who underwent neuroimaging at school age, we investigated whether early maternal support predicted later hippocampal volumes. Maternal support observed in early childhood was strongly predictive of hippocampal volume measured at school age. The positive effect of maternal support on hippocampal volumes was greater in nondepressed children. These findings provide prospective evidence in humans of the positive effect of early supportive parenting on healthy hippocampal development, a brain region key to memory and stress modulation.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1118003109