Brain and Mind Research, Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
1st Department of Neurology, St Anne's University Hospital and Faculty of Medicine, MU, Brno, Czech Republic.
JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Jan 3;6(1):e2254581. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.54581.
Maternal mental health problems during pregnancy are associated with altered neurodevelopment in offspring, but the long-term relationship between these prenatal risk factors and offspring brain structure in adulthood remains incompletely understood due to a paucity of longitudinal studies.
To evaluate the association between exposure to maternal depression in utero and offspring brain age in the third decade of life, and to evaluate recent stressful life events as potential moderators of this association.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cohort study examined the 30-year follow-up of a Czech prenatal birth cohort with a within-participant design neuroimaging component in young adulthood conducted from 1991 to 2022. Participants from the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood prenatal birth cohort were recruited for 2 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) follow-ups, one between ages 23 and 24 years (early 20s) and another between ages 28 and 30 years (late 20s).
Maternal depression during pregnancy; stressful life events in the past year experienced by the young adult offspring.
Gap between estimated neuroanatomical vs chronological age at MRI scan (brain age gap estimation [BrainAGE]) calculated once in participants' early 20s and once in their late 20s, and pace of aging calculated as the differences between BrainAGE at the 2 MRI sessions in young adulthood.
A total of 260 individuals participated in the second neuroimaging follow-up (mean [SD] age, 29.5 [0.6] years; 135 [52%] male); MRI data for both time points and a history of maternal depression were available for 110 participants (mean [SD] age, 29.3 [0.6] years; 56 [51%] male). BrainAGE in participants' early 20s was correlated with BrainAGE in their late 20s (r = 0.7, P < .001), and a previously observed association between maternal depression during pregnancy and BrainAGE in their early 20s persisted in their late 20s (adjusted R2 = 0.04; P = .04). However, no association emerged between maternal depression during pregnancy and the pace of aging between the 2 MRI sessions. The stability of the associations between maternal depression during pregnancy and BrainAGE was also supported by the lack of interactions with recent stress. In contrast, more recent stress was associated with greater pace of aging between the 2 MRI sessions, independent of maternal depression (adjusted R2 = 0.09; P = .01).
The findings of this cohort study suggest that maternal depression and recent stress may have independent associations with brain age and the pace of aging, respectively, in young adulthood. Prevention and treatment of depression in pregnant mothers may have long-term implications for offspring brain development.
孕期母亲的心理健康问题与后代神经发育改变有关，但由于缺乏纵向研究，这些产前风险因素与成年后代大脑结构之间的长期关系仍不完全清楚。
评估孕妇在孕期内抑郁暴露与成年后代脑龄的关系，并评估近期生活应激事件是否可能作为该关系的调节因素。
设计、地点和参与者：本队列研究通过参与者内设计的神经影像学部分，对捷克产前出生队列进行了 30 年的随访，该队列于 1991 年至 2022 年期间进行了年轻成人的磁共振成像（MRI）随访。来自欧洲妊娠和儿童期纵向研究的参与者被招募进行 2 次 MRI 随访，一次在 23 至 24 岁（20 岁出头）之间，另一次在 28 至 30 岁（20 岁后期）之间。
孕期母亲抑郁；成年后代过去一年中经历的生活应激事件。
在参与者 20 岁出头和 20 岁后期的 MRI 扫描中计算一次的神经解剖学与实际年龄之间的差距（脑龄差距估计值 [BrainAGE]），以及在年轻成人的 2 次 MRI 检查中计算的老化速度差异作为脑龄的差异。
共有 260 人参加了第二次神经影像学随访（平均[标准差]年龄 29.5[0.6]岁；135[52%]为男性）；110 人（平均[标准差]年龄 29.3[0.6]岁；56[51%]为男性）有两次时间点的 MRI 数据和母亲孕期抑郁史。参与者 20 岁出头时的 BrainAGE 与 20 岁后期的 BrainAGE 相关（r=0.7，P<0.001），而且在他们 20 岁出头时，母亲孕期抑郁与 BrainAGE 之间的先前观察到的关联在他们 20 岁后期仍持续存在（调整后的 R2=0.04；P=0.04）。然而，在这两个 MRI 检查之间，母亲孕期抑郁与老化速度之间没有关联。母亲孕期抑郁与 BrainAGE 之间的关联的稳定性也得到了没有与近期压力相互作用的支持。相比之下，更多的近期压力与两个 MRI 检查之间的老化速度加快有关，而与母亲孕期抑郁无关（调整后的 R2=0.09；P=0.01）。
本队列研究的结果表明，母亲抑郁和近期压力可能分别与年轻成人的脑龄和老化速度有独立的关联。对孕妇的抑郁进行预防和治疗可能对后代的大脑发育有长期影响。
