Levitan Robert D, Zhang Cindy Xin Wen, Knight Julia A, Hung Rayjean J, Wade Mark, Finegold Katherine, Ameis Stephanie, Bertoni Kashtin, Wong Jody, Murphy Kellie E, Lye Stephen J, Matthews Stephen G
Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Psychiatry Res. 2025 Jun;348:116430. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2025.116430. Epub 2025 Mar 10.
Season of birth/conception has been used to study neurodevelopmental risk in hundreds of studies, however the translational impact of this work remains limited. We propose a new model to study season-of- conception effects on neurodevelopment using maternal fall-winter seasonality as a key moderating variable, and provide initial empirical data to support this new approach. In an ongoing pregnancy cohort study we evaluated associations between season-of conception and maternal history of fall-winter Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) on child executive functioning in 520 children at age 54 months. Executive functioning was measured using computerized administration of the Flanker test (a measure of attention) and the Dimensional Change Card Sort (a measure of cognitive flexibility). Results indicated that sixty-four mothers (12.3 %) met criteria for historical fall-winter SAD. MANCOVA found a significant season of conception (fall-winter vs. spring-summer) by maternal SAD (yes/no) by sex (female/male) interaction predicting the two child outcomes (F = 4.11, df= 2,509, p=.017). In the subgroup of children in the SAD group, girls conceived in the fall-winter vs. spring-summer months had significantly lower scores on the Dimensional Change Card Sort. No significant effects related to season of conception and/or maternal SAD were found in boys. Similar results were found after controlling for maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy. In summary, season-of-conception was associated with impaired child executive functioning at age 54 months, but only in girls of mothers with a history of fall-winter SAD. The use of maternal seasonality and sex as moderating variables may be critical to early neuro- developmental research based on pregnancy timing, particularly at more northern latitudes.
出生/受孕季节已被用于数百项研究中以探究神经发育风险，然而这项工作的转化影响仍然有限。我们提出了一种新模型，以母亲秋冬季节性作为关键调节变量来研究受孕季节对神经发育的影响，并提供初步实证数据来支持这一新方法。在一项正在进行的孕期队列研究中，我们评估了520名54个月大儿童的受孕季节与母亲秋冬季节性情感障碍（SAD）病史对儿童执行功能的关联。执行功能通过计算机化施测的侧翼任务（一种注意力测量方法）和维度变化卡片分类任务（一种认知灵活性测量方法）进行测量。结果表明，64名母亲（12.3%）符合既往秋冬SAD的标准。多变量协方差分析发现，受孕季节（秋冬与春夏）、母亲SAD（是/否）和性别（女性/男性）之间存在显著交互作用，可预测两个儿童结局（F = 4.11，自由度= 2,509，p = 0.017）。在SAD组儿童亚组中，秋冬受孕的女孩与春夏受孕的女孩相比，在维度变化卡片分类任务上的得分显著更低。在男孩中未发现与受孕季节和/或母亲SAD相关的显著影响。在控制孕期母亲抑郁症状后也发现了类似结果。总之，受孕季节与54个月大儿童的执行功能受损有关，但仅在有秋冬SAD病史母亲的女孩中如此。将母亲季节性和性别作为调节变量可能对基于受孕时间的早期神经发育研究至关重要，尤其是在纬度较高的地区。
