Maternal Depression May Affect Child’s Brain
At the 57th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) in October 2010, Dana Serino of Columbia University reported that mothers who experienced depression while pregnant had children with increased size in both their left and right medial temporal gyri, parts of the brain that may be responsible for judging distance, recognizing faces, and understanding word meaning.
Editor’s Note: These data extend preclinical studies that have shown that a variety of prenatal stressors are capable of exerting substantial effects on biology and behavior in children. In addition to affecting medial temporal gyrus volume, prenatal depression has also been shown to have effects on behavior of newborns, indicating that depression during pregnancy may have adverse effects on both the mother and the newborn.
Comments
Leave a Reply
