Pandemic Stress in Pregnant Women May Impact Babies' Brain Development: JAMA Study

According to a study published in JAMA Network Open, a critical part of the brain linked to risks for anxiety later in life-the left amygdala-was significantly smaller by volume in babies of mothers who reported stress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The right hippocampus, which governs spatial, visual and verbal memories, and the white matter were also reduced in children whose mothers reported stress.

Intrauterine stressors have been shown to influence fetal brain development and affect how the child, once born, grows and develops. Maternal psychological distress during pregnancy, including stress, anxiety, and depression, is recognized as one such stressor on early brain development. Available evidence shows that maternal anxiety during pregnancy is associated with altered brain growth and microstructure development in the amygdala and white matter in the offspring as well as lower cognitive scores and increased negative temperament from infancy to 2 years of age.

For the study, researchers from Children’s National Hospital used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to compare the brains of 103 babies born between 2014 and 2019, before the pandemic, with those of 59 babies born between 2020 and 2022. Mothers who had COVID-19 or other pregnancy complications were excluded from the study. The babies underwent MRI scans while still in utero and again shortly after birth.

Mothers were assessed for stress and anxiety using the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and other validated scoring methods.

Before the pandemic, 21% of mothers reported high anxiety levels; this figure rose sharply to nearly 62% in the pandemic cohort.

The study found that the babies' brains were affected as well, with regions known to regulate emotion and anxiety showing smaller volumes on MRI scans.

The findings showed an association between maternal psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic and offspring neonatal brain development. It suggested that an increase in maternal mental health symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic are associated with subsequent lower volumetric brain growth in newborn offspring.

Reference: Weiner S, Wu Y, Kapse K, et al. Prenatal Maternal Psychological Distress During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Newborn Brain Development. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(6):e2417924. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.17924