Monday, December 07, 2020

Maternal anxiety affects the fetal brain


https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-12/cnh-maa120320.php

 

News Release 7-Dec-2020
Children's National Hospital

 

Anxiety in gestating mothers appears to affect the course of brain development in their fetuses, changing neural connectivity in the womb, a new study by Children's National Hospital researchers suggests. The findings, published Dec. 7, 2020, in JAMA Open Network, could help explain longstanding links between maternal anxiety and neurodevelopmental disorders in their children and suggests an urgent need for interventions to diagnose and decrease maternal stress.

Researchers have shown that stress, anxiety or depression in pregnant mothers is associated not only with poor obstetric outcomes but also social, emotional and behavioral problems in their children. Although the care environment after birth complicates the search for causes, postnatal imaging showing significant differences in brain anatomy has suggested that these problems may originate during gestation.


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