The Association Between Maternal Cortisol and Infant Amygdala Volume Is Moderated by Socioeconomic Status.

ABSTRACT:

Background

It has been well established that socioeconomic status is associated with mental and physical health as well as brain development, with emerging data suggesting that these relationships begin in utero. However, less is known about how prenatal socioeconomic environments interact with the gestational environment to affect neonatal brain volume.

Methods

Maternal cortisol output measured at each trimester of pregnancy and neonatal brain structure were assessed in 241 mother-infant dyads. We examined associations between the trajectory of maternal cortisol output across pregnancy and volumes of cortisol receptor-rich regions of the brain, including the amygdala, hippocampus, medial prefrontal cortex, and caudate. Given the known effects of poverty on infant brain stru

SUBMITTER: Herzberg MP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10593881 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature