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Poster #166 - Frontal Asymmetry in Mothers and Infants Following Maternal Participation in CBT for Postpartum Depression

Thu, March 21, 12:30 to 1:45pm, Baltimore Convention Center, Floor: Level 1, Exhibit Hall B

Integrative Statement

Postpartum depression (PPD) is the most common psychiatric problem affecting women in the puerperium. PPD is associated with suffering in women can adversely affect infant neurodevelopment. Women with PPD manifest dysregulation of physiological systems involved in emotion regulation, including frontal corticolimbic circuitry. These changes are mimicked in the infants of women with PPD and can persist into childhood. Individual differences in resting activity patterns in the anterior cerebral hemispheres measured using electroencephalography (EEG) are commonly used markers of psychiatric risk across the lifespan (Coan & Allen, 2004). Individuals exhibiting greater relative left frontal EEG asymmetry at rest display more adaptive emotion regulatory capacity; however, greater relative right frontal EEG asymmetry at rest is linked to an increased risk for psychopathology (e.g., Harmon-Jones, 2017). Greater right frontal asymmetry has been observed in both women with PPD and their infants (e.g., Field, 2008). However, no studies have examined if cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for mothers can alter frontal EEG asymmetry patterns in women with PPD and their infants. The aim of this study is to determine whether frontal EEG asymmetry: i) differs between mothers with PPD and their infants (relative to healthy mother-infant dyads, and ii) changes in depressed mothers and their infants following maternal treatment with CBT.

This ongoing case-control study will recruit 60 mothers and their infants (30 mothers with a primary diagnosis of PPD, and 30 healthy control mother-infant pairs matched on infant age and socioeconomic status). Mothers with PPD received 9-weeks of group CBT. Frontal EEG asymmetry was assessed in both mothers and infants at two-time points a) baseline/pre-CBT and b) 9-weeks post baseline/post-CBT. Resting frontal EEG data were collected using a 128-channel dense array cap (Electrical Geodesic Incorporated) in both mothers (during a 6-minute resting baseline condition) and infants (during a 5-minute resting baseline condition-infant was seated on their mother’s lap and an experimenter manipulated a colorful toy in front of the infant). Frontal asymmetry was computed using the log-transformed difference in EEG power (μV2) at right and left frontal sites.

Preliminary analyses have been conducted on 20 mother-infant dyads (10 PPD dyads and 10 healthy control dyads). As expected, at baseline, both PPD mothers and infants exhibited significantly greater right frontal EEG asymmetry relative to healthy control mothers and their infants. Following CBT treatment, a significant increase in frontal EEG asymmetry (greater left frontal hemisphere activity) was observed in both PPD mothers and their infants. No changes were observed from baseline to 9-weeks post in the healthy control dyads.

These data provide insights into the intergenerational transmission risk from mother to child and highlight that maternal treatment with psychotherapy may play a role in reducing this risk. In particular, our preliminary results suggest that CBT may induce adaptive changes in frontal cortical asymmetry patterns in both mothers and infants. Given the long-term adverse effects of depression, it is important to continue to assess the impact of treatments that are acceptable to women with PPD for their effects on mothers and their children.

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