Poster #98 - The Role of Maternal Mood in Infant Brain Development

• In Event: Poster Session 14

Abstract

Infants are shaped by their environment and interactions with others, particularly with caregivers. Depression can have a major impact on caregivers’ behaviors, and this in turn has downstream consequences for infant brain and behavioral development (Belsky & de Haan, 2011; Gee et al., 2016, Hoffman et al., 2009; Lovejoy et al., 2000). In adults, depression is linked to differences in functional connectivity (FC) in brain networks, including the default mode network (DMN), a network involved in self-referential thought and social processing (Buckner & DiNicola, 2019), and the fronto-parietal network (FPN), a network involved in executive function (Dosenbach et al., 2008; Greicius et al., 2007; Kaiser et al., 2015; Sambataro et al., 2013; Sheline et al., 2008). Previous studies indicate that maternal depression is associated with individual differences in infant and child brain development (Dawson et al., 2006; Posner et al., 2016; Soe et al., 2016), but its effects on infants’ developing FC in long-range cortical brain networks such as the DMN and FPN have not been assessed.

In the current study, we will investigate how maternal mood relates to infant brain development. Specifically, we will examine whether maternal depression impacts developing brain networks through reduced maternal positive affect displayed during mother-child interactions (free play). Utilizing data from 43 mother-infant dyads (65% male) collected as part of an ongoing longitudinal study, we will examine whether individual variability in maternal depressive symptoms is correlated with observed maternal positive affect, and whether these factors relate to infant brain FC in the DMN and FPN at 5 months of age.

Maternal depression was measured using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, and maternal positive affect was measured through behavioral coding of the mother and infant’s interaction during a five-minute free play session. Infants’ resting-state FC was measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy.

Firstly, we hypothesize that maternal depression will be negatively correlated with maternal positive affect. Secondly, we hypothesize that maternal depression and/or maternal positive affect will be associated with differences in infants’ FC in the DMN and FPN. Data collection for this study is complete, but statistical analyses have not yet been performed. We plan to pre-register these hypotheses on Open Science Framework before analyzing the data.

Our analysis strategy consists of the following steps. First, we will conduct a correlational analysis to identify potentially confounding variables such as maternal education, family income, and infant gender. If the correlational analysis reveals significant correlations with any of the predictor variables (maternal depression and maternal positive affect), these variables will be entered as covariates in subsequent analysis steps. Second, we will use a multiple regression to test whether maternal depression and/or maternal positive affect predict FC in either the DMN or the FPN. Finally, depending on the results obtained during the second step, we may explore the possibility that positive affect mediates any potential links between maternal depression and infant FC. This study promises to provide new insights into how maternal mood may contribute to variability in functional brain development during early infancy.

Authors

• Sydney Colette Anderson, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Presenting Author

• Johanna Rebecca Chajes, University of Virginia - Charlottesville

• Jessica A Stern, University of Virginia - Charlottesville

• Caroline Kelsey, Boston Children’s Hospital

• Tobias Grossmann, University of Virginia - Charlottesville