Developmental psychobiology最新文献

Maternal immune activation (MIA) during early to mid-pregnancy may be associated with offspring psychological issues, while the association between MIA in late pregnancy and offspring brain inflammation remains controversial. This study investigated the effects of maternal exposure to IL-6 during late pregnancy on brain inflammation in offspring born via different delivery methods. On gestation day 20 ± 1, pregnant rats were randomly assigned to an IL-6 intramuscular injection group and a saline control group. Rectal temperature was monitored every half hour for 8 h postinjection. Based on spontaneous delivery within 8 h, each group was further subdivided into cesarean section and spontaneous delivery subgroups. Pregnant rats that did not deliver spontaneously underwent cesarean section to retrieve fetuses for brain inflammation assessment, while newborns from spontaneous deliveries were nursed by their mothers for 4 days. Immunohistochemistry and western blotting were used to detect Iba1, GFAP, and COX2 expression to assess brain inflammation levels in fetuses and newborns. The mode of delivery did not affect rectal temperature in pregnant rats between the IL-6 group and the saline group. In the brain tissue of pups delivered by cesarean section, the IL-6 group exhibited significantly higher expression levels of Iba1, GFAP, and COX2 compared with the control group, while no significant difference was observed between the two groups in pups delivered vaginally. In both groups of newborn rats delivered vaginally, GFAP and COX2 expression increased on Day 2, peaked on Day 3, and decreased on Day 4, while Iba1 expression peaked on Day 4. Maternal inflammation and the stimuli of natural birth can both induce brain inflammation in fetal or newborn rats. Maternal inflammation during late pregnancy has a moderate effect on fetuses, comparable to the effects observed after natural birth.

Thyroid hormones are critical for brain development, and numerous studies have reported that hypothyroidism in neonatal life results in long-lasting changes in activity, cognition, and social behavior. However, most rodent developmental hypothyroidism paradigms induce hypothyroidism in the dam as well, and these enduring behavioral impacts may be partly mediated by changes in the maternal care pups receive. The goals of this study were to determine whether postpartum hypothyroidism alters maternal care and whether the maternal behavior of the pups experiencing postnatal hypothyroidism is altered when they have their own pups. We induced hypothyroidism using methimazole (MMI; 0.025%) in the drinking water from P0 to P21, and we measured maternal behavior using 30-min observations every 2 days for 2 weeks; these were followed by a pup retrieval test. When female offspring from these litters reached adulthood, we mated them with control males and repeated the maternal behavior observations and retrieval tests once pups were born. There were no largescale deficits in maternal care in either generation; instead, both groups of MMI-treated females retrieved faster and engaged in more nesting behavior than controls. These results suggest that the effects of postnatal hypothyroidism on early brain development are not likely caused by maternal neglect.

Early social skills underlie the development of crucial regulatory and behavioral processes across childhood. EEG frontal alpha asymmetry and heart rate variability are two physiological markers that have been extensively studied in relation to social skills in high-income country (HIC) samples. The prevalence of adversities in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is linked to pervasive deficits in early social skills, yet little is known about the role of physiology in contributing to these processes. The current study explores two physiological measures across two timepoints in relation to social skills in a rural, low-resourced context. In a sample of 229 young children from Greater Tzaneen, South Africa, we assessed how both frontal alpha asymmetry and change in heart rate variability from 17 to 36 months related to 36-month social skills. Left frontal asymmetry predicted poorer social skills, while greater increase in heart rate variability across timepoints predicted higher social skills, especially in children displaying right-lateralized asymmetry. Findings extend work from HICs to a LMIC context, suggesting potential implications for later mental health challenges, while identifying autonomic maturation as a possible protective factor in low-resource settings for specific neurophysiological profiles.

Despite the early emergence of differences in processing own- and other-race faces, examinations of the corresponding neural correlates prior to adulthood remain limited. The present study examined 5- to 10-year-olds’ and adults’ P100 and N170 responses to own- and other-race faces during an identity-processing task and a race-categorization task. There were developmental changes in discriminability and response times in both task conditions. Stimulus face race and task condition showed independent effects on adults’ P100 responses, with greater mean P100 amplitude for other- than own-race faces and greater mean P100 amplitude when categorizing faces by race than when processing face identity. Task condition alone influenced 5- to 7-year-olds’ P100 responses, with greater mean P100 amplitude in the left hemisphere when categorizing faces by race than when processing face identity. Neither stimulus face race nor task condition, nor their interaction, influenced N170 responses in adults. However, 5- to 7-year-olds showed shorter peak N170 latencies to own-race than other-race face categories, and 8- to 10-year-olds showed larger P100 to N170 peak-to-peak amplitude responses for other-race compared to own-race face identities.

This study investigates the complex predictors of postpartum depression (PPD) among women affected by the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes, focusing on the roles of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), psychological resilience, and mother–infant attachment. A cross-sectional study of 270 postpartum women utilized measures of PTSS (Impact of Event Scale–Revised [IES-R]), PPD (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale [EPDS]), psychological resilience (Brief Psychological Resilience Scale [BPRS]), and mother–infant attachment (Mother-Infant Attachment Scale [MIAS]). Initial analyses showed that disaster-related exposure (e.g., following news and losing relatives) was significantly associated with PTSS severity. Hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that PTSS was a significant positive predictor of PPD. Crucially, psychological resilience was found not only to be a direct negative predictor of PPD but also a significant moderator, weakening the positive relationship between PTSS and PPD. Furthermore, mother–infant attachment was a significant independent negative predictor of PPD, contributing to the variance beyond trauma and resilience. The findings confirm that in a post-disaster context, PTSS is a major risk factor for PPD, while psychological resilience serves a critical buffering function, and a strong mother–infant bond offers unique protection. These results underscore the necessity for integrated interventions that address trauma, foster resilience, and support the mother–infant relationship to mitigate PPD in vulnerable populations.