Depression in Pregnant Women may Alter Brain Development of Infants

Depression can dramatically alter daily activities for the individual suffering from the mental disorder and it can hinder time shared with the friend or loved one going through this difficult health issue. However, for expectant mothers suffering from depression, a recent study shows that they may actually have a negative impact on the development of their newborn's brain.

The study notes that children who have depressed parents are at an increased for developing depression themselves, a combination of both genetic and environmental elements.

To test how brain patterns might be affected in the womb, researchers performed a direct analysis of prenatal maternal depression and variation in the fetal development of the amygdala. To do this, they recruited 157 pregnant women who completed a depression questionnaire during their 26^th week of pregnancy. Two weeks before birth, newborns underwent magnetic resonance imaging scans to ascertain the structure of their amygdala and diffusion tensor imaging scans in order to determine the integrity of the amygdalas pattern of neural connections.

Researchers note that the volume of the amygdala did not differ between infants regardless of their mothers' depression status, but the connectivity was significantly reduced in the right amygdala of infants with mothers who had high levels of depression.

The important implications of these findings show that abnormal amygdala function, a feature of mood and anxiety disorders, may be transmitted from mother to child during fetal life. The findings also suggest one new path of history for maternal depression to contribute to a life-long increase in the vulnerability of mental illness.

"The notion that maternal depression might influence the brain development of their babies is very concerning," said. Dr. John Krystal, editor of the journal in which the study is published, according to a press release. "The good news is that this risk might be reduced by systematic screening of pregnant women for depression and initiating effective treatment."

More information regarding the study can be found via the journal Biological Psychiatry.