Effects of Maternal Experience of Discrimination During Pregnancy on Neonatal Brain Connectivity

• In Event: From psychological to environmental risk mechanisms: Advancing the study of prenatal influences on biobehavioral development

Abstract

Background: There is emerging evidence that chronic exposure to racial discrimination during pregnancy is associated with various negative psychological and physical maternal outcomes including increased risk of depression, anxiety, and systemic inflammation (Chaney et al, 2019; Giurgescu et al, 2016). However, there is a lack of research examining the impact of maternal racial discrimination on offspring brain development. The current study aims to determine whether maternal exposure to racial discrimination affects neonatal functional connectivity of the hippocampus and amygdala, areas that have been linked to stress and depression.
Methods: Forty-five pregnant women, aged 14-19, were recruited from Columbia University Irving Medical Center. They received routine prenatal care and had no major health problems. A majority of the women were Hispanic (88%). At 34-37 weeks gestation, the women completed self-report psychological assessments including the Experiences of Discrimination Scale. Resting-state functional MRI data was acquired in the neonatal period. Standard seed connectivity from the right and left hippocampi and amygdalae were performed.
Results: Women reporting discrimination during pregnancy compared to women who did not had neonates with weaker connectivity between the right hippocampus and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In kind, women experiencing discrimination relative to those who did not had neonates with weaker connectivity between the left amygdala and anterior prefrontal cortex.
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that maternal exposure to racial discrimination is associated with neonatal connectivity of the hippocampal and amygdala regions to the prefrontal cortex, which are all brain regions implicated in stress and emotion processing. Previous studies with adults have also shown that the prefrontal cortex is involved in racial processing (Katsumi et al, 2018; Knutson et al, 2007), and further, that social evaluative stress is associated with altered prefrontal connectivity with brain regions involved in emotion regulation and attention (Berger et al, 2014). The amygdala has also been implicated in the processing of ‘other race’ faces in adult minorities (Sankar et al, 2018; Liu et al, 2015). As our findings with infant brain connectivity are consistent with these brain regions associated with racial processing and social evaluative stress in adults, there could be a intergenerational effect of discrimination that will require further study. Future studies are necessary to relate these connectivity patterns to racial information processing in offspring, and to determine whether racial discrimination during pregnancy is associated with negative psychological and physical outcomes in offspring.

Authors

• Marisa N. Spann, Columbia University
  Presenting Author

• Arline Pierre-Louis
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kristiana Barbato, Columbia University Medical Center
  Non-Presenting Author

• Kiarra Alleyne, Columbia University Medical Center
  Non-Presenting Author

• Antonette Davids, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
  Non-Presenting Author

• Bradley S. Peterson, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
  Non-Presenting Author

• Catherine Monk, Columbia University Irving Medical Center
  Non-Presenting Author

• Dustin Scheinost, Yale School of Medicine
  Non-Presenting Author