Reduced postpartum hippocampal volume is associated with positive mother-infant caregiving behavior.
Maternal caregiving
depression
early life stress
hippocampus
postpartum
Journal
Journal of affective disorders
ISSN: 1573-2517
Titre abrégé: J Affect Disord
Pays: Netherlands
ID NLM: 7906073
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
15 02 2021
15 02 2021
Historique:
received:
09
09
2020
revised:
01
12
2020
accepted:
04
12
2020
pubmed:
20
12
2020
medline:
22
4
2021
entrez:
19
12
2020
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
Maternal caregiving is a complex set of behaviors that can be impacted by early life stress (ELS), yet human neurobiological mechanisms are not well understood. Young mothers (n=137) were enrolled into a neuroimaging substudy of the longitudinal Pittsburgh Girls Study (PGS). Using data collected annually while subjects were ages 8-16, ELS was calculated as a composite score of poverty, trauma, and difficult life circumstances. At 4 months postpartum, mothers underwent neuroimaging and filmed mother-infant interaction. Maternal caregiving was coded along 6 dimensions yielding "positive" and "negative" components of caregiving. Participants' MPRAGE images were subjected to preprocessing and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to quantify vmPFC, amygdala and hippocampus gray matter (GM) volume. We used hierarchical linear regression to investigate the relationship between GM volume and maternal caregiving, covarying for ELS as well as maternal age, weeks postpartum, race and postpartum depression score. Hippocampal GM volume was inversely associated with independent observations of positive maternal caregiving. Similar findings in the vmPFC did not remain significant after correction for multiple comparisons. ELS, particularly physical assault, was associated with reduced GM volumes but was unrelated to observed maternal caregiving. Our single-timepoint MRI-based GM volume method was not able to demonstrate time-related intra-individual perinatal neuroplasticity, nor could it resolve neural subregions involved in caregiving-related plasticity. Our findings shed light on the putative plasticity of the human maternal extra-hypothalamic stress-circuitry underlying positive maternal caregiving behavior. Whether reduced hippocampal GM volume represents pruning or represents neural resilience in the face of ELS, remains to be studied.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
Maternal caregiving is a complex set of behaviors that can be impacted by early life stress (ELS), yet human neurobiological mechanisms are not well understood.
METHODS
Young mothers (n=137) were enrolled into a neuroimaging substudy of the longitudinal Pittsburgh Girls Study (PGS). Using data collected annually while subjects were ages 8-16, ELS was calculated as a composite score of poverty, trauma, and difficult life circumstances. At 4 months postpartum, mothers underwent neuroimaging and filmed mother-infant interaction. Maternal caregiving was coded along 6 dimensions yielding "positive" and "negative" components of caregiving. Participants' MPRAGE images were subjected to preprocessing and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to quantify vmPFC, amygdala and hippocampus gray matter (GM) volume. We used hierarchical linear regression to investigate the relationship between GM volume and maternal caregiving, covarying for ELS as well as maternal age, weeks postpartum, race and postpartum depression score.
RESULTS
Hippocampal GM volume was inversely associated with independent observations of positive maternal caregiving. Similar findings in the vmPFC did not remain significant after correction for multiple comparisons. ELS, particularly physical assault, was associated with reduced GM volumes but was unrelated to observed maternal caregiving.
LIMITATIONS
Our single-timepoint MRI-based GM volume method was not able to demonstrate time-related intra-individual perinatal neuroplasticity, nor could it resolve neural subregions involved in caregiving-related plasticity.
CONCLUSIONS
Our findings shed light on the putative plasticity of the human maternal extra-hypothalamic stress-circuitry underlying positive maternal caregiving behavior. Whether reduced hippocampal GM volume represents pruning or represents neural resilience in the face of ELS, remains to be studied.
Identifiants
pubmed: 33341012
pii: S0165-0327(20)33103-7
doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.12.014
pmc: PMC8950103
mid: NIHMS1658165
pii:
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
297-302Subventions
Organisme : NIMH NIH HHS
ID : K01 MH102406
Pays : United States
Organisme : NICHD NIH HHS
ID : R01 HD067185
Pays : United States
Organisme : NIMH NIH HHS
ID : R01 MH056630
Pays : United States
Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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