Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, United States of America; Department of Psychology, University of Denver, Denver, CO, United States of America.
Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, United States of America.
J Affect Disord. 2024 Dec 15;367:49-57. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.08.146. Epub 2024 Aug 25.
Maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are robust predictors of mental health for both the exposed individual and the next generation; however, the pathway through which such intergenerational risk is conferred remains unknown. The current study evaluated the association between maternal ACEs and infant brain development, including an a priori focus on circuits implicated in emotional and sensory processing.
The sample included 101 mother-infant dyads from a longitudinal study. Maternal ACEs were assessed with the Adverse Childhood Questionnaire dichotomized into low (0 or 1) and high (≥2) groups. White matter microstructure, as indexed by fractional anisotropy (FA), was assessed using structural magnetic resonance imaging in infants (41.6-46.0 weeks' postconceptional age) within a priori tracts (the cingulum, fornix, uncinate, inferior frontal occipital fasciculus, and inferior longitudinal fasciculus). Exploratory analyses were also conducted across the whole brain.
High maternal ACEs (≥2) were associated with decreased infant left inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) FA (F(1,94) = 7.78, p < .006) relative to infants of low ACE mothers. No group difference was observed within the right ILF following correction for multiple comparisons (F(1,95) = 4.29, p < .041). Follow-up analyses within the left ILF demonstrated associations between high maternal ACEs and increased left radial diffusivity (F(1,95) = 5.10, p < .006). Exploratory analyses demonstrated preliminary support for differences in visual processing networks (e.g., optic tract) as well as additional circuits less frequently examined in the context of early life adversity exposure (e.g., corticothalamic tract).
Maternal ACEs predict neural circuit development of the inferior longitudinal fasciculus. Findings suggest that early developing sensory circuits within the infant brain are susceptible to maternal adverse childhood experiences and may have implications for the maturation of higher-order emotional and cognitive circuits.
母体不良童年经历（ACEs）是个体自身和下一代心理健康的强有力预测因素；然而，这种代际风险传递的途径尚不清楚。本研究评估了母体 ACEs 与婴儿大脑发育之间的关联，包括预先关注情绪和感官处理相关回路。
该样本包括来自纵向研究的 101 对母婴对。使用不良童年问卷（Adverse Childhood Questionnaire）将母体 ACEs 评估为低（0 或 1）和高（≥2）两类。使用结构磁共振成像在婴儿（受孕后 41.6-46.0 周）内评估白质微观结构，作为各向异性分数（FA）的指标，在预先确定的轨迹（胼胝体、穹窿、钩束、下额枕束和下纵束）中进行。还对整个大脑进行了探索性分析。
与 ACE 母亲的婴儿相比，高母体 ACEs（≥2）与婴儿左下纵束（ILF）FA 降低相关（F(1,94) = 7.78，p <.006）。在对多个比较进行校正后，右侧 ILF 没有观察到组间差异（F(1,95) = 4.29，p <.041）。在左 ILF 内的后续分析中，高母体 ACEs 与左放射状弥散度增加相关（F(1,95) = 5.10，p <.006）。探索性分析初步支持视觉处理网络（例如视束）以及在早期生活逆境暴露背景下较少检查的其他回路存在差异（例如皮质丘脑束）。
母体 ACEs 预测下纵束的神经回路发育。研究结果表明，婴儿大脑中早期发育的感觉回路容易受到母体不良童年经历的影响，这可能对更高阶的情绪和认知回路的成熟产生影响。
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