Maternal depressive symptoms in childhood and offspring brain cortical and subcortical volumetric change: A repeated imaging study from age 4–10 years

Abstract

Maternal depressive symptoms have been associated with offspring’s brain structural differences. However, previous studies were limited by cross-sectional designs, brain region-of-interest analyses, or clinical samples. Importantly, few studies assessed the early childhood brain. This study analyzed data from a Singaporean cohort of 217 children with 589 repeated structural neuroimaging from 4.5 to 10.5 years (2–4 assessments) in relation to maternal depressive symptoms. Maternal depressive symptoms were measured by questionnaire at child age 4.5 years. Mixed models explored within-sample change accounting for non-linear brain development. Multiple testing was corrected, and a stringent threshold was applied. Maternal depressive symptoms were associated with persistently smaller precentral gyral volume over time (β = −0.162 [-0.238; −0.086], p_adj < 0.001). In analysis with time interaction, maternal symptoms were associated with curvilinear changes in the volumes of supramarginal (β = −0.019 [-0.027; −0.010], p_adj < 0.001) and precuneus gyrus (β = −0.016 [-0.025; −0.007], p_adj = 0.007); this suggests delayed volumetric development in brain areas governing attention, memory, and language among children exposed to severe maternal symptoms. The findings implicate that childhood maternal depressive symptoms are associated with persistent differences in precentral volume and affect the brain volumetric development of complex sensory information processing regions, rather than in emotion regulation areas implicated in the depression experience. Our findings emphasize repeated childhood imaging to understand child brain development risk factors.