Neural mechanisms underlying maternal depression transmission to offspring
Poster No:
671
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Yong Jeon Cheong1, Changmin Seo2, Sumin Lee3, Yuyeon Kim4, Seonkyoung Lee5, Jihyeong Ro6, Jihyun Bae7, Yelin Lee5, Ilwoo Lyu4, Minyoung Jung5
Institutions:
1Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu, NA, 2Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, Korea, Democratic People's Republic of, 3Korean Brain Research Institute, Daegu, South Korea, None, 4Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, Korea, Republic of, 5Korea brain Research Institute, Daegu, Korea, Republic of, 6Korea Brain Research Institute, Daegu, Daegu, 7Korea brain Research Institute, Daegu, (non-US)
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Changmin Seo
Pohang University of Science and Technology
Pohang, Korea, Democratic People's Republic of
Pohang University of Science and Technology
Pohang, Korea, Democratic People's Republic of
Introduction:
Maternal depression has been considered as one of the significant risk factors for the development of psychopathology in children (Goodman, 2020) and parenting stress is recognized for its mediating role in the intergenerational transmission of maternal depression (Daundasekara et al., 2021). This study investigates how maternal depression, the severity of depressive symptoms in mothers, manifests in the brains of both mothers and their children, while considering the potential roles of parenting stress.
Methods:
Using intergenerational neuroimaging (Fehlbaum et al., 2022), we initially identified the structural and functional brain characteristics of both mothers and their children across 68 regions of interest. We further calculated the structural (Sebenius et al., 2023) and functional similarities (Parkinson et al., 2018) between corresponding brain regions within mother-child dyads based on nine morphological features (average convexity, cortical thickness, cortical volume, mean curvature, surface area, adaptive local gyrification index (Lyu et al., 2018), sulcal depth (Lyu et al., 2018), shape index (Koenderink & Van Doorn, 1992), and shape complexity index (Kim et al., 2016)) and resting-state neural activations.
Results:
151 mothers and 119 children (N = 119 mother-child dyads) successfully completed both neuroimaging and three mother-informed questionnaires (Beck Depression Inventory; Parenting Stress Index; Child Depression Inventory). For the maternal brain ( N = 151, mean age [SD] = 40.87 [3.03] years), maternal depression was found to affect parenting stress, to which the brain adapts. Structural equation modeling analysis demonstrated that the estimated model (maternal depression → parenting stress → maternal brain) exhibited a good fit (χ2 = 25.494, df = 19, p = 0.145, CFI = 0.958, TLI = 0.938, RMSEA = 0.048, SRMR = 0.048, NFI = 0.861, GFI = 0.956). For the child brain (N = 119, 64 boys; mean age [SD] = 9.46 [1.58] years), maternal depression, mediated by parenting stress, affects the brain. The estimated model (maternal depression→ parenting stress → child brain)demonstrated a moderate fit (χ2 = 34.145, df = 26, p = 0.131, CFI = 0.954, TLI = 0.936, RMSEA = 0.051, SRMR = 0.058, NFI = 0.839, GFI = 0.934). For mother-child dyads, maternal depression, mediated by parenting stress,significantly impacts brain similarity. The estimated model (maternal depression→ parenting stress→brain similarity) showed a moderate fit (χ2 = 6.741, df = 4, p = 0.15, CFI = 0.933, TLI = 0.832, RMSEA = 0.076, SRMR = 0.039, NFI = 0.867, GFI = 0.974) (Figure 1).
Regarding child brain, the right supramarginal gyrus surface area (β = 0.002, SE = 0.001, p = 0.03), the right transverse temporal gyrus shape index (β = 25.484, SE = 9.94, p = 0.012), and the right transverse temporal gyrus cortical volume (β = 0.011, SE = 0.005, p = 0.02) were ideitified as significant predictors of child depression. Furthermore, in terms of similarity, the structural similarity of right superior temporal gyrus significantly predicted child depression (β = 201.576, SE = 79.634, p = 0.013).
Regarding child brain, the right supramarginal gyrus surface area (β = 0.002, SE = 0.001, p = 0.03), the right transverse temporal gyrus shape index (β = 25.484, SE = 9.94, p = 0.012), and the right transverse temporal gyrus cortical volume (β = 0.011, SE = 0.005, p = 0.02) were ideitified as significant predictors of child depression. Furthermore, in terms of similarity, the structural similarity of right superior temporal gyrus significantly predicted child depression (β = 201.576, SE = 79.634, p = 0.013).
·Three models for transmission of maternal depression A Maternal brain model. B Child brain model. C. Mother-child brain similarity model. Across the three models, the path diagram illustrates signifi
Conclusions:
In conclusion, maternal depression, fully mediated by parenting stress, significantly impacts maternal brain, child brain and the similarity between the two brains, particularly in regions involved in empathy processing (Shamay-Tsoory et al., 2009). Moreover, the associations between these regions and child depression imply transmission of maternal depression at the level of the human brain. Our findings illuminate new aspects of the neural mechanisms underlying the intergenerational transmission of maternal depression.
Emotion, Motivation and Social Neuroscience:
Social Cognition 2
Social Interaction
Social Neuroscience Other 1
Novel Imaging Acquisition Methods:
Anatomical MRI
BOLD fMRI
Keywords:
Social Interactions
Other - brain similarity(structure/function), depression transmission
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
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Provide references using APA citation style.
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Goodman, S. H. (2020). Annual Review of Clinical Psychology Intergenerational Transmission of Depression. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-clinpsy-071519
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