Laterality of foetal self-touch in relation to maternal stress

Abstract

This longitudinal observational study investigated whether foetuses change their hand preference with gestational age, and also examined the effects of maternal stress on lateralized foetal self-touch. Following ethical approval, fifteen healthy foetuses (eight girls and seven boys) were scanned four times from 24 to 36 weeks gestation. Self-touch behaviours which resulted in a touch of the foetal face/head were coded in 60 scans for 10 min and analysed in terms of frequency of the foetuses using left and right hands to touch their face. The joint effects of foetal age, stress and sex on laterality were assessed. We modelled the proportion of right self-touches for each foetal scan using a generalized linear mixed model, taking account of the repeated measures design. There was substantial variability in hand preference between foetuses. However, there was no significant increase in the proportion of right-handed touches with foetal age. No sex differences in handedness were identified. However, maternally reported stress level was significantly positively related to foetal left-handed self-touches (odds ratio 0.915; p < .0001). This longitudinal study provides important new insights into the effect of recent maternal stress on foetal predominant hand use during self-touch.

Performance comparison between right-handers and left-handers in a Brazilian sample of the Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment

“…The authors concluded that visual availability interferes with hand choice. Other factors, such as maternal stress (Reissland et al, 2014), are mentioned. Preslar et al (2014) also found no relationship between gender and handedness.…”

“…Initially, genetic factors predominate, but environmental factors such as greater movement of non-dominant limb can lead to reduced asymmetry (McCartney & Hepper, 1999;Teixeira & Paroli, 2000). Recently, Reissland, Aydin, Francis, and Exley (2014) showed that maternal stress between the 24 th and 36 th week induces increased fetal self-touching with the left limb. Thus, the process of brain lateralization could be influenced by the biochemical imbalance that maternal stress causes in the uterus.…”

What the Fetal Face can tell Us: A Discussion of the Evidence, Implications and Potential for Further Research

“…For example, the fetuses of mothers reporting stress have been found to show more left handed touches. 53 This adds further weight to the claim that ultrasound images of the fetus can give an insight into development in utero.…”

Current status of fetal neurodevelopmental assessment: Four‐dimensional ultrasound study

“…53 Reissland et al 54 examined the effects of maternal stress on lateralized fetal self-touch to the face/head using 4-D ultrasound. The maternally reported stress level was significantly positively correlated with fetal left-handed self-touches.…”