The intrauterine period is critically important for brain development and may influence mental health throughout life. Animal studies have shown that psychosocial stress during pregnancy, especially in early and mid-stages of gestation, lead to neurobehavioral problems associated with suboptimal Central Nervous System (CNS) development involving motor skills, arousal, impulsivity, and emotional dysregulation. Yet, these studies cannot be directly applied to humans. The overall goal of the proposed study is driven by the hypothesis that exposure to psychosocial stress in utero can program changes in the functioning of the offspring's CNS during sensitive windows of fetal development, leading to neurodevelopmental impairment. This study builds upon our on-going NIH-funded study which assesses prenatal stress as a critical neurodevelopmental risk factor. The participants (N=408) reside in Queens/Long Island, where Superstorm Sandy caused devastation, allowing us to conduct a natural experiment of stress during pregnancy. Capitalizing on existing infrastructure, an established biorepository, and prospectively collected data on Sandy-related trauma after the disaster (severity, timing of exposure, duration of adversity, and psychological reactions), and normative (from everyday life) psychosocial stress experienced during pregnancy, we propose to 1) follow offspring through 42 months of age to evaluate key areas of neurodevelopment as a function of their exposure to prenatal stress; 2) evaluate whether timing of exposure to Sandy trauma is associated with different neurodevelopmental trajectories; 3) examine the inter- relations of prenatal stress, child neurodevelopment, and epi/genetic (methylation and gene expression) regulation of candidate genes, encompassing 5 key stress modulation and neuro-development pathways in paired samples of placenta and cord blood, and further explore if epigenetic regulation in those genes induce different trajectories of neurodevelopment; 4) explore stability of epigenetic marks during early development in childhood. Given the distinct biological functions and tissue- and developmental stage-specificity of gene regulation, assessment of epi/genetic marks in paired samples of placenta and cord blood at birth and saliva in childhood could help clarify disease mechanism. By demonstrating the utility of less invasive ways to collect peripheral tissues at different times in life, the study will advance the design for future epidemiologic studies, and potentially improve prognosis and interventions for developmental psychopathology. Using structural equation modeling, multilevel growth curve modeling, and hierarchical linear models, we will elucidate the underlying mechanisms of suboptimal neurodevelopment in early childhood, in association with maternal psychosocial stress exposure (types, intensity, and timing) during the course of pregnancy. The study will ultimately help us chart the course of mental disorders from in utero to birth and early childhood, further our understanding of the critical periods of pregnancy and their effect on a molecular level in humans, and set the stage for research into early interventions that could preempt mental disorders that might emerge later in life.

Public Health Relevance

We proposed a molecular epidemiological study to elucidate the mechanisms of infant neurodevelopmental impairment associated with maternal psychosocial stress during pregnancy. The study will ultimately help us chart the course of mental disorders from in utero to birth and early childhood, and determine whether intervention could preempt mental disorders that might emerge later in life.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH102729-05
Application #
9507951
Study Section
Biobehavioral Mechanisms of Emotion, Stress and Health Study Section (MESH)
Program Officer
Wagner, Ann
Project Start
2014-07-25
Project End
2019-06-30
Budget Start
2018-07-01
Budget End
2019-06-30
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
2018
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Queens College
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
619346146
City
Flushing
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
10036
Buthmann, Jessica; Ham, Jacob; Davey, Katherine et al. (2018) Infant Temperament: Repercussions of Superstorm Sandy-Related Maternal Stress. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev :
Zhang, Wei; Rajendran, Khushmand; Ham, Jacob et al. (2018) Prenatal exposure to disaster-related traumatic stress and developmental trajectories of temperament in early childhood: Superstorm Sandy pregnancy study. J Affect Disord 234:335-345
Zhang, W; Li, Q; Deyssenroth, M et al. (2018) Timing of prenatal exposure to trauma and altered placental expressions of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis genes and genes driving neurodevelopment. J Neuroendocrinol 30:e12581
Pehme, Patricia M; Zhang, Wei; Finik, Jackie et al. (2018) Placental MAOA expression mediates prenatal stress effects on temperament in 12-month-olds. Infant Child Dev 27:
Zhang, Wei; Finik, Jackie; Dana, Kathryn et al. (2018) Prenatal Depression and Infant Temperament: The Moderating Role of Placental Gene Expression. Infancy 23:211-231
Finik, Jackie; Nomura, Yoko (2017) Cohort Profile: Stress in Pregnancy (SIP) Study. Int J Epidemiol 46:1388-1388k
Deyssenroth, Maya A; Li, Qian; LacasaƱa, Marina et al. (2017) Expression of placental regulatory genes is associated with fetal growth. J Perinat Med 45:887-893
Nomura, Yoko; John, Rosalind M; Janssen, Anna Bugge et al. (2017) Neurodevelopmental consequences in offspring of mothers with preeclampsia during pregnancy: underlying biological mechanism via imprinting genes. Arch Gynecol Obstet 295:1319-1329
Andersson, Niklas W; Li, Qian; Mills, Carrie W et al. (2016) Influence of prenatal maternal stress on umbilical cord blood cytokine levels. Arch Womens Ment Health 19:761-7
Lambertini, Luca; Chen, Jia; Nomura, Yoko (2015) Mitochondrial Gene Expression Profiles Are Associated with Maternal Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy and Infant Temperament. PLoS One 10:e0138929

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