2-123 - The Placenta and Child Development

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Research findings derived from the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) model indicate that prenatal exposures may have lasting influence on child neurodevelopment. The role of the placenta is fundamental to this line of study because it is the intermediary and arbiter -- and in some cases instigator -- of fetal exposures that may underlie these effects. That is, interrogation of the placenta provides an early and intimate assessment of pregnancy health and future child health outcomes. Unfortunately, however, systematic research on the placenta and child development is substantially missing. The proposed symposium brings together scientists from many disciplines (neuroscience, pathology, genetics, developmental biology) and studies from sites throughout the US.

The first presentation will provide a didactic overview of the placenta, with a particular emphasis on the leading measures and metrics of placenta structure and function that may be of special interest to child developmentalists. The second paper will present findings from a large-scale study on the associations between some of the leading prenatal predictors of child neurodevelopment (e.g., maternal prenatal stress and obesity) and placental markers. The third presentation will present evidence that certain measures of placental structure and function are associated with autism, a leading neurodevelopmental disorder. The fourth presentation will present results from a program of study on placental gene expression and child neurobehavioral development. Collectively, the presentations will illustrate how a study of the placenta informs our understanding of child development.

Sub Unit

• Biological Processes: Psychophysiology

Chairs

• Thomas O'Connor, University of Rochester

• Richard Kermit Miller, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry

Individual Presentations

• Implications for the Placenta in Neurobehavioral Development - Presenting Author: Richard Kermit Miller, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry; Non-Presenting Author: Thomas O'Connor, University of Rochester; Non-Presenting Author: Carolyn Salafia, Placental Analytics; Non-Presenting Author: Rogelio Perez D'Gregorio, University of Rochester Medical Center

• Prenatal Maternal Depression and Anxiety Associated with Placental Structural and Functional Changes - Presenting Author: Ana Vallejo Sefair, University of Rochester Medical Center; Non-Presenting Author: Richard Kermit Miller, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry; Non-Presenting Author: Allison Ciesla, University of Rochester; Non-Presenting Author: Emily Barrett, Rutgers School of Public Health; Non-Presenting Author: Carolyn Salafia, Placental Analytics; Non-Presenting Author: Ruchit Shah, Placental Analytics; Non-Presenting Author: Thomas O'Connor, University of Rochester

• Placental Markers of Autism Spectrum Disorder - Presenting Author: Carolyn Salafia, Placental Analytics; Non-Presenting Author: Ruchit Shah, Placental Analytics

• Placental Functional Genomics and Newborn Neurobehavioral Performance - Presenting Author: Carmen J. Marsit, Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health