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Neurobiological Effects of Early Adversity: Intergenerational Transmission and Intervention

Thu, April 8, 11:35am to 1:05pm EDT (11:35am to 1:05pm EDT), Virtual

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Abstract

Understanding the effects of early adversity on infant neurobiological development is one current frontier of developmental science. Childhood maltreatment (CM), in particular, has widespread effects later health and psychopathology (Hughes et al., 2017). Further, the detrimental effects of maltreatment can be transmitted intergenerationally (Plant et al., 2018), possibly including effects on infant neurobiological functioning (Buss et al., 2017). The current symposium addresses how CM affects intergenerational trajectories in three converging papers. In the first paper, mother’s CM contributed to her perceived stress during pregnancy, which in turn was associated with her infant’s reduced hippocampal volume shortly after birth. In the second paper, mother’s history of CM was associated with reductions in infant grey matter volume over the first two years of life. Finally, in a randomized controlled trial, an early intervention to increase the sensitivity of a maltreating mother’s interaction with her infant was associated with increased activation of threat-regulatory child brain regions (e.g. anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex) when viewing unfamiliar faces at age 10 years, as assessed by fMRI. All three papers present state-of-the-art findings on the risks posed by CM, both directly and intergenerationally, to the child’s neurobiological development. In addition, Paper 1 presents evidence that negative effects of maternal CM may already be apparent at birth. However, Paper 3 presents critical evidence that some neurobiological effects of CM might be amenable to early intervention. Discussion will focus on potential underlying mechanisms linking both child and maternal CM to aspects of early brain development.

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