SHORT REPORT
Infants of mothers with higher physiological stress show alterations in brain function
Sonya V. Troller-Renfree,
Natalie H. Brito, Pooja M. Desai,
Ana G. Leon-Santos,
Cynthia A. Wiltshire,
Summer N. Motton,
Jerrold S. Meyer, Joseph Isler,
William P. Fifer,
Kimberly G. Noble,
Sonya V. Troller-Renfree
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Search for more papers by this authorPooja M. Desai
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Search for more papers by this authorAna G. Leon-Santos
NORC at the University of Chicago, Bethesda, MD, USA
Search for more papers by this authorCynthia A. Wiltshire
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Search for more papers by this authorSummer N. Motton
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Search for more papers by this authorJoseph Isler
Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
Search for more papers by this authorWilliam P. Fifer
Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Kimberly G. Noble
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Correspondence
Kimberly G. Noble, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorSonya V. Troller-Renfree,
Natalie H. Brito, Pooja M. Desai,
Ana G. Leon-Santos,
Cynthia A. Wiltshire,
Summer N. Motton,
Jerrold S. Meyer, Joseph Isler,
William P. Fifer,
Kimberly G. Noble,
Sonya V. Troller-Renfree
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Search for more papers by this authorPooja M. Desai
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Search for more papers by this authorAna G. Leon-Santos
NORC at the University of Chicago, Bethesda, MD, USA
Search for more papers by this authorCynthia A. Wiltshire
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Search for more papers by this authorSummer N. Motton
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Search for more papers by this authorJoseph Isler
Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
Search for more papers by this authorWilliam P. Fifer
Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Kimberly G. Noble
Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Correspondence
Kimberly G. Noble, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Chronic stress has been increasingly linked with aberrations in children's behavioral, cognitive, and social development, yet the effect of chronic physiological stress on neural development during the first year of life is largely unknown. The present study aims to link a physiological index of chronic stress (maternal hair cortisol concentration) to maturational differences in infant functional brain development during the first year of life. Participants were 94 mother-infant dyads. To index chronic physiological stress, maternal hair samples were assayed for the previous three months’ cortisol output. To examine the development of brain function during the first year of life, six-to-twelve-month-old infants (N = 94) completed a resting electroencephalography (EEG) recording. Infants of mothers with evidence of higher physiological stress showed increased relative low-frequency (theta) power and reduced relative high-frequency (alpha, high-gamma) power, compared to infants of mothers with evidence of low physiological stress. This pattern of findings is consistent with other studies suggesting that early life stress may lead to alterations in patterns of infant brain development. These findings are important given that maturational lags in brain development can be long-lasting and are associated with deficits in cognitive and emotional development. The present research also suggests that reducing maternal physiological stress may be a useful target for future interventions aiming to foster neurodevelopment during the first year of life.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Open Research
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Supporting Information
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Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.
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