Wen D J, Poh J S, Ni S N, Chong Y-S, Chen H, Kwek K, Shek L P, Gluckman P D, Fortier M V, Meaney M J, Qiu A
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Clinical Imaging Research Center, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore.
Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Singapore, Singapore.
Transl Psychiatry. 2017 Apr 25;7(4):e1103. doi: 10.1038/tp.2017.74.
Maternal depressive symptoms influence neurodevelopment in the offspring. Such effects may appear to be gender-dependent. The present study examined contributions of prenatal and postnatal maternal depressive symptoms to the volume and microstructure of the amygdala in 4.5-year-old boys and girls. Prenatal maternal depressive symptoms were measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) at 26 weeks of gestation. Postnatal maternal depression was assessed at 3 months using the EPDS and at 1, 2, 3 and 4.5 years using the Beck's Depression Inventory-II. Structural magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging were performed with 4.5-year-old children to extract the volume and fractional anisotropy (FA) values of the amygdala. Our results showed that greater prenatal maternal depressive symptoms were associated with larger right amygdala volume in girls, but not in boys. Increased postnatal maternal depressive symptoms were associated with higher right amygdala FA in the overall sample and girls, but not in boys. These results support the role of variation in right amygdala structure in transmission of maternal depression to the offspring, particularly to girls. The differential effects of prenatal and postnatal maternal depressive symptoms on the volume and FA of the right amygdala suggest the importance of the timing of exposure to maternal depressive symptoms in brain development of girls. This further underscores the need for intervention targeting both prenatal and postnatal maternal depression to girls in preventing adverse child outcomes.
母亲的抑郁症状会影响后代的神经发育。这种影响可能存在性别差异。本研究调查了产前和产后母亲抑郁症状对4.5岁男孩和女孩杏仁核体积及微观结构的影响。产前母亲抑郁症状通过妊娠26周时使用爱丁堡产后抑郁量表（EPDS）进行测量。产后母亲抑郁在3个月时使用EPDS进行评估，在1、2、3和4.5岁时使用贝克抑郁量表第二版进行评估。对4.5岁儿童进行了结构磁共振成像和扩散张量成像，以提取杏仁核的体积和分数各向异性（FA）值。我们的结果表明，产前母亲抑郁症状越严重，女孩右侧杏仁核体积越大，而男孩则不然。产后母亲抑郁症状增加与总体样本及女孩右侧杏仁核FA升高有关，而男孩则无此关联。这些结果支持了右侧杏仁核结构变化在母亲抑郁向后代传递，尤其是向女孩传递过程中的作用。产前和产后母亲抑郁症状对右侧杏仁核体积和FA的不同影响表明，女孩大脑发育过程中接触母亲抑郁症状的时间很重要。这进一步强调了针对产前和产后母亲抑郁对女孩进行干预以预防儿童不良后果的必要性。
