Infant frontal EEG asymmetry in relation with postnatal maternal depression and parenting behavior

Abstract

Right frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry associates with negative affect and depressed mood, which, among children, are predicted by maternal depression and poor parenting. This study examined associations of maternal depression and maternal sensitivity with infant frontal EEG asymmetry based on 111 mother-6-month-infant dyads. There were no significant effects of postnatal maternal depression or maternal sensitivity, or their interaction, on infant EEG frontal asymmetry. However, in a subsample for which the infant spent at least 50% of his/her day time hours with his/her mother, both lower maternal sensitivity and higher maternal depression predicted greater relative right frontal EEG asymmetry. Our study further showed that greater relative right frontal EEG asymmetry of 6-month-old infants predicted their greater negative emotionality at 12 months of age. Our study suggested that among infants with sufficient postnatal maternal exposure, both maternal sensitivity and mental health are important influences on early brain development.

Perinatal maternal depressive symptoms alter amygdala functional connectivity in girls

“…In addition, only female adolescents with early life stress show a positive association between amygdala‐ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) functional connectivity and depressive symptoms (Burghy et al, ). Similarly, a recent study suggests that influences of maternal depressive symptoms are gender‐specific in a certain developmental time window (Wen et al, ). Greater prenatal maternal depressive symptoms were associated with larger right amygdala volume in girls, but not in boys (Wen et al, ).…”

“…Greater prenatal maternal depressive symptoms were associated with larger right amygdala volume in girls, but not in boys (Wen et al, ). Increased postnatal maternal depressive symptoms were associated with greater water diffusivity in right amygdala only in girls (Wen et al, ). These findings demonstrate the vulnerability of the amygdala's emotional perception and regulation networks to maternal depression and such vulnerability may be specific to gender.…”

“…Prenatal maternal depressive symptoms can cause a number of physiological changes that may influence intra-uterine environment and alter fetal development. On the other hand, postnatal maternal depressive symptoms influence the offspring most likely through forms of parenting (Fleming, Ruble, Flett, & Shaul, 1988;Rifkin-Graboi et al, 2015a;Wen et al, 2017) that enhance fearfulness, social withdrawal (Bruder-Costello et al, 2007;Degnan, Almas, & Fox, 2010;Moffitt, Caspi, Newman, & Silva, 1996;Murray, Halligan, Goodyer, & Herbert, 2010) and predict an increased risk for later psychopathology in offspring (Biederman et al, 2001). Hence, we expect that pre-and post-natal maternal depressive symptoms may independently influence brain development of offspring.…”

Functional and structural networks of lateral and medial orbitofrontal cortex as potential neural pathways for depression in childhood

“…Using the same cohort, we previously found that postnatal maternal depressive symptoms altered the volume, microstructure, and functional connectivity of the amygdala in girls (Soe et al, 2018;Wen, Soe et al, 2017). Using the same cohort, we previously found that postnatal maternal depressive symptoms altered the volume, microstructure, and functional connectivity of the amygdala in girls (Soe et al, 2018;Wen, Soe et al, 2017).…”

“…In this study, we aimed to investigate this hypothesis by examining of the lOFC and mOFC functional and structural networks in relation with postnatal maternal depressive symptoms in children at age 4 and 6 years and their contribution to child's approach/withdrawal behavior. Given considerable evidence for sexually dimorphic associations between maternal mental health and neurodevelopmental outcomes (Soe et al, 2018;Wen, Soe et al, 2017), we explored our hypothesis in boys and girls, respectively, to elucidate potential sex-dependent OFC in response to maternal depressive symptoms in early life. This was mainly because of roles of the lOFC and mOFC in emotion and reward processing and because maternal depression promotes forms of parenting (Field et al, 2004;Fleming, Flett, Ruble, & Shaul, 1988) that enhance stress reactivity, social withdrawal, and inattention (Bruder-Costello et al, 2007;Caspi, Moffitt, Newman, & Silva, 1996;Cote et al, 2009).…”