The Effects of Prenatal Stress & Poor Nutrition on Brain and Cognition

摘要 儿童的神经认知发展会给他们的未来投下长长的阴影，极大地影响他们的 职业功能和心理社会适应。虽然越来越多的人认识到规范性差异- 早期环境经验中的情感(即父母教养方式)在形成认知发展中起着重要作用 然而，有证据表明，环境对认知发展的影响始于子宫。二 怀孕期间的常见经历、心理社会压力和微量营养素摄入不足--促进 当然，铁和锌会影响结果。产前焦虑预测智力和运动发育迟缓 婴儿时期的Bayley量表，以及基于大脑成像的颞叶中部灰质的减少 学龄儿童。动物模型已经证明，产前应用皮质类固醇也是如此- 与神经认知障碍(即学习困难)和大脑结构变化有关，如减少 海马体体积。缺锌母亲所生的婴儿表现出记忆障碍的迹象。横跨两个 在出生前暴露，动物与人类研究的不同之处在于可以接触到新生儿的大脑。这个 本项目的目的是评估母亲产前应激和营养不良对新生儿大脑的影响。 结构和功能，并将成像测量与儿童早期的认知结果联系起来。支持- Proposed R01研究是ARRA资助的R01评估生物心理社会压力和营养的后续研究 青春期怀孕。具体地说，我们有三个主要目标要在怀孕的青少年中实现 15-19岁)及其婴儿：(1)确定母亲产前应激与营养之间的关系， 以及新生儿大脑发育的差异(来自多模式成像)。(2)确定神经基础 在特定的学习和记忆任务中的缺陷，以及认知发展的一般指数，与 产前压力和营养不足。(3)确定孕产妇保健之间的双向影响 (即母亲敏感度和母婴依恋方式)和婴儿新出现的学习和记忆能力 安乐死。建立这些产前暴露与婴儿认知之间的大脑关联关系 有可能帮助确定怀孕常见的两种经历对子宫内发育的影响， 高压力和营养不足，甚至在孩子出生之前就有可能限制孩子未来的学习。是这样的 结果将会有重要的意义

Summary Children's neurocognitive development can cast long shadows on their futures, dramatically influencing their occupational functioning and psychosocial adjustment. While it is increasingly recognized that normative varia- tion in early environmental experiences (i.e. parenting style), plays a significant role in shaping cognitive devel- opment, evidence indicates that the impact of the environment on cognitive development begins in utero. Two common experiences during pregnancy, psychosocial stress and inadequate micronutrient intake - promi- nently, iron and zinc, affect outcomes. Prenatal anxiety predicts delayed mental and motor development on the Bayley Scales in infancy, and a reduction in gray matter in the middle temporal lobe based on brain imaging in school-age children. Animal models have demonstrated that antenatal corticosteroid administration is asso- ciated with neurocognitive disabilities (i.e. difficulty learning) and structural brain changes such as reduction in hippocampal volume. Infants born to Zinc-deficient mothers show signs of memory impairment. Across both prenatal exposures, what differentiates the animal from the human studies is access to the neonatal brain. The goal of this project is to assess the influence of maternal prenatal stress and poor nutrition on neonatal brain structure and function, and to relate the imaging measures to cognitive outcomes in early childhood. The pro- posed R01 study is a follow-up to an ARRA-funded R01 assessing biopsychosocial stress and nutrition during adolescent pregnancy. Specifically, we have three primary aims to be carried out with pregnant adolescents (ages 15 -19) and their infants: (1) To determine associations between maternal antenatal stress and nutrition, and variation in newborn brain development (from multi-modal imaging). (2) To determine the neural bases of deficits in specific learning and memory tasks, and a general index of cognitive development, associated with prenatal stress and inadequate nutrition. (3) To determine the bidirectional influences between maternal care (i.e. maternal sensitivity and mother-infant attachment style) and infants' emerging learning and memory ca- pacities. Establishing brain-associated relationships between these prenatal exposures and infant cognition has the potential to help specify the in utero developmental effects of two experiences common to pregnancy, high stress and inadequate nutrition, potentially constraining children's future learning even before birth. Such results would have significant