The pre- and perinatal environment is thought to play a critical role in shaping brain development. Specifically, maternal mental health and maternal care have been shown to influence offspring brain development in regions implicated in emotional regulation such as the amygdala. In this study, we used data from a neuroimaging follow-up of a prenatal birth-cohort, the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood, to investigate the impact of early postnatal maternal anxiety/co-dependence, and prenatal and early-postnatal depression and dysregulated mood on amygdala volume and morphology in young adulthood (n = 103). We observed that in typically developing young adults, greater maternal anxiety/co-dependence after birth was significantly associated with lower volume (right: t = -2.913, p = 0.0045, β = -0.523; left: t = -1.471, p = 0.144, β = -0.248) and non-significantly associated with surface area (right: t = -3.502, q = 0.069, <10%FDR, β = -0.090, left: t = -3.137, q = 0.117, <10%FDR, = -0.088) of the amygdala in young adulthood. Conversely, prenatal maternal depression and mood dysregulation in the early postnatal period was not associated with any volumetric or morphological changes in the amygdala in young adulthood. Our findings provide evidence for subtle but long-lasting alterations to amygdala morphology associated with differences in maternal anxiety/co-dependence in early development.

• MeSH
• amygdala diagnostické zobrazování   MeSH
• deprese diagnostické zobrazování   MeSH
• dítě MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• duševní zdraví MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• longitudinální studie MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• mozek MeSH
• poporodní deprese * MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• zpožděný efekt prenatální expozice * diagnostické zobrazování   MeSH
• Check Tag
• dítě MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

INTRODUCTION: The proportion of older adults within society is sharply increasing and a better understanding of how we age starts to be critical. However, given the paucity of longitudinal studies with both neuroimaging and epigenetic data, it remains largely unknown whether the speed of the epigenetic clock changes over the life course and whether any such changes are proportional to changes in brain aging and cognitive skills. To fill these knowledge gaps, we conducted a longitudinal study of a prenatal birth cohort, studied epigenetic aging across adolescence and young adulthood, and evaluated its relationship with brain aging and cognitive outcomes. METHODS: DNA methylation was assessed using the Illumina EPIC Platform in adolescence, early and late 20 s, DNA methylation age was estimated using Horvath's epigenetic clock, and epigenetic age gap (EpiAGE) was calculated as DNA methylation age residualized for batch, chronological age and the proportion of epithelial cells. Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was acquired in both the early 20 s and late 20 s using the same 3T Prisma MRI scanner and brain age was calculated using the Neuroanatomical Age Prediction using R (NAPR) platform. Cognitive skills were assessed using the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) in the late 20 s. RESULTS: The EpiAGE in adolescence, the early 20 s, and the late 20 s were positively correlated (r = 0.34-0.47), suggesting that EpiAGE is a relatively stable characteristic of an individual. Further, a faster pace of aging between the measurements was positively correlated with EpiAGE at the end of the period (r = 0.48-0.77) but negatively correlated with EpiAGE at the earlier time point (r = -0.42 to -0.55), suggesting a compensatory mechanism where late matures might be catching up with the early matures. Finally, higher positive EpiAGE showed small (Adj R2 = 0.03) but significant relationships with a higher positive brain age gap in all participants and lower full-scale IQ in young adult women in the late 20 s. DISCUSSION: We conclude that the EpiAGE is a relatively stable characteristic of an individual across adolescence and early adulthood, but that it shows only a small relationship with accelerated brain aging and a women-specific relationship with worse performance IQ.

• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

BACKGROUND: Obesity has been associated with depressive symptoms and impaired cognition, but the mechanisms underlying these relationships are not well understood. It is also not clear whether reducing adiposity reverses these behavioral outcomes. The current study tested the impact of bariatric surgery on depressive symptoms, cognition, and the brain; using a mediation model, we also examined whether the relationship between changes in adiposity after the surgery and those in regional thickness of the cerebral cortex are mediated by changes in low-grade inflammation (as indexed by C-reactive protein; CRP). METHODS: A total of 18 bariatric patients completed 3 visits, including one baseline before the surgery and two post-surgery measurements acquired at 6- and 12-months post-surgery. Each visit consisted of a collection of fasting blood sample, magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and abdomen, and assessment of depressive symptoms and cognition. RESULTS: After surgery, we observed reductions of both visceral fat (p< 0.001) and subcutaneous fat (p< 0.001), less depressive symptoms (p< 0.001), improved verbal reasoning (p< 0.001), and reduced CRP (p< 0.001). Mediation analyses revealed that the relationships between the surgery-related changes in visceral fat and cortical thickness in depression-related regions are mediated by changes in CRP (ab=-.027, SE=.012, 95% CI [-.054, -,006]). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that some of the beneficial effects of bariatric surgery on brain function and structure are due to a reduction of adiposity-related low-grade systemic inflammation.

• MeSH
• bariatrická chirurgie * metody   MeSH
• deprese * etiologie   MeSH
• kognice MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mozek diagnostické zobrazování   MeSH
• obezita komplikace   chirurgie   MeSH
• zánět komplikace   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

The aim was to investigate the association of parental education at birth with cognitive ability in childhood and young adulthood and determine, whether functional connectivity of the salience network underlies this association. We studied participants of the Czech arm of the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood who underwent assessment of their cognitive ability at age 8 (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children) and 28/29 years (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale) and measurement with resting state functional MRI at age 23/24. We estimated the associations of parental education with cognitive ability and functional connectivity between the seeds in the salience network and other voxels in the brain. We found that lower education of both mothers and fathers was associated with lower verbal IQ, performance IQ and full-scale IQ of the offspring at age 8. Only mother ́s education was associated with performance IQ at age 28/29. Lower mother ́s education correlated with greater functional connectivity between the right rostral prefrontal cortex and a cluster of voxels in the occipital cortex, which, in turn, was associated with lower performance IQ at age 28/29. We conclude that the impact of parental education, particularly father ́s, on offspring ́s cognitive ability weakens during the lifecourse. Functional connectivity between the right rostral prefrontal cortex and occipital cortex may be a biomarker underlying the transmission of mother ́s education on performance IQ of their offspring.

• MeSH
• dítě MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• inteligenční testy MeSH
• kognice * MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• longitudinální studie MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• novorozenec MeSH
• rodiče * MeSH
• stupeň vzdělání MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• Check Tag
• dítě MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• novorozenec MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH

IMPORTANCE: Maternal mental health problems during pregnancy are associated with altered neurodevelopment in offspring, but the long-term relationship between these prenatal risk factors and offspring brain structure in adulthood remains incompletely understood due to a paucity of longitudinal studies. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between exposure to maternal depression in utero and offspring brain age in the third decade of life, and to evaluate recent stressful life events as potential moderators of this association. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cohort study examined the 30-year follow-up of a Czech prenatal birth cohort with a within-participant design neuroimaging component in young adulthood conducted from 1991 to 2022. Participants from the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood prenatal birth cohort were recruited for 2 magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) follow-ups, one between ages 23 and 24 years (early 20s) and another between ages 28 and 30 years (late 20s). EXPOSURES: Maternal depression during pregnancy; stressful life events in the past year experienced by the young adult offspring. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Gap between estimated neuroanatomical vs chronological age at MRI scan (brain age gap estimation [BrainAGE]) calculated once in participants' early 20s and once in their late 20s, and pace of aging calculated as the differences between BrainAGE at the 2 MRI sessions in young adulthood. RESULTS: A total of 260 individuals participated in the second neuroimaging follow-up (mean [SD] age, 29.5 [0.6] years; 135 [52%] male); MRI data for both time points and a history of maternal depression were available for 110 participants (mean [SD] age, 29.3 [0.6] years; 56 [51%] male). BrainAGE in participants' early 20s was correlated with BrainAGE in their late 20s (r = 0.7, P < .001), and a previously observed association between maternal depression during pregnancy and BrainAGE in their early 20s persisted in their late 20s (adjusted R2 = 0.04; P = .04). However, no association emerged between maternal depression during pregnancy and the pace of aging between the 2 MRI sessions. The stability of the associations between maternal depression during pregnancy and BrainAGE was also supported by the lack of interactions with recent stress. In contrast, more recent stress was associated with greater pace of aging between the 2 MRI sessions, independent of maternal depression (adjusted R2 = 0.09; P = .01). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The findings of this cohort study suggest that maternal depression and recent stress may have independent associations with brain age and the pace of aging, respectively, in young adulthood. Prevention and treatment of depression in pregnant mothers may have long-term implications for offspring brain development.

• MeSH
• deprese * MeSH
• dítě MeSH
• dospělé děti MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• kohortové studie MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• longitudinální studie MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• mozek diagnostické zobrazování   MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• zpožděný efekt prenatální expozice * MeSH
• Check Tag
• dítě MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

BACKGROUND: Experience of early-life socioeconomic deprivation (ELSD) may increase the risk of mental disorders in young adulthood. This association may be mediated by structural and functional alterations of the hippocampus. METHODS: We conducted a prospective cohort study on 122 participants of the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood. Information about ELSD was collected via questionnaire from mothers during the first 18 months of participants' lives. At age 23-24, participants underwent examination by structural magnetic resonance imaging, resting-state functional connectivity and assessment of depressive symptoms (Mood and Feelings Questionnaire) and anxiety (Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory). The association of ELSD with brain outcomes in young adulthood was assessed with correlations, linear regression (adjusting for sex, socioeconomic position and mother's mental health) and moderated mediation analysis. RESULTS: Higher ELSD was associated with greater depressive symptoms (B = 0.22; p = 0.001), trait anxiety (B = 0.07; p = 0.02) and lower global connectivity of the right hippocampus (B = -0.01; p = 0.02). These associations persisted when adjusted for covariates. In women, lower global connectivity of the right hippocampus was associated with stronger trait anxiety (B = -4.14; p = 0.01). Global connectivity of the right hippocampus as well as connectivity between the right hippocampus and the left middle temporal gyrus mediated the association between ELSD and trait anxiety in women. Higher ELSD correlated with a lower volume of the right hippocampus in men, but the volume of the right hippocampus was not related to mental health. CONCLUSIONS: Early preventive strategies targeted at children from socioeconomically deprived families may yield long-lasting benefits for the mental health of the population.

• MeSH
• deprese * MeSH
• dítě MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• hipokampus MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• longitudinální studie MeSH
• magnetická rezonanční tomografie MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• prospektivní studie MeSH
• socioekonomické faktory MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• úzkost * MeSH
• Check Tag
• dítě MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

BACKGROUND: Exposure to maternal stress in utero has long-term implications for the developing brain and has been linked with a higher risk of depression. The amygdala, which develops during the early embryonic stage and is critical for emotion processing, might be particularly sensitive. METHODS: Using data from a neuroimaging follow-up of the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood prenatal birth cohort (n = 129, 47% men, 23-24 years old), we studied the impact of prenatal stress during the first and second halves of pregnancy on the volume of the amygdala and its nuclei in young adult offspring. We further evaluated the relationship between amygdala anatomy and offspring depressive symptomatology. Amygdala nuclei were parcellated using FreeSurfer's automated segmentation pipeline. Depressive symptoms were measured via self-report using the Beck Depression Inventory. RESULTS: Exposure to stress during the first half of pregnancy was associated with smaller accessory basal (Cohen's f2 = 0.27, false discovery rate [FDR]-corrected p [pFDR] = .03) and cortical (Cohen's f2 = 0.29, pFDR = .03) nuclei volumes. This effect remained significant after correcting for sex, stress during the second half of pregnancy, maternal age at birth, birth weight, maternal education, and offspring's age at magnetic resonance imaging. These two nuclei showed a quadratic relationship with Beck Depression Inventory scores in young adulthood, where both smaller and larger volumes were associated with more depressive symptoms (accessory basal nucleus: adj. R2 = 0.05, pFDR = .015; cortical nucleus: adj. R2 = 0.04, pFDR = .015). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that exposure to stress during the first half of pregnancy might have long-term implications for amygdala anatomy, which may in turn predict the experience of depressive symptoms in young adulthood.

• MeSH
• amygdala diagnostické zobrazování   patologie   MeSH
• deprese * psychologie   MeSH
• dítě MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• longitudinální studie MeSH
• magnetická rezonanční tomografie metody   MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• novorozenec MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• zpožděný efekt prenatální expozice * MeSH
• Check Tag
• dítě MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• novorozenec MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

In 54 participants (41% women) from the Czech arm of the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood, a national birth cohort with prospectively collected data from their birth until young adulthood, we aimed to study the association between early-life socioeconomic deprivation (ELSD), cognitive ability in adolescence, trait anxiety and resting state functional connectivity of the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) in young adulthood. We found that ELSD was associated with lower cognitive ability in adolescence (at age 13) as well as higher trait anxiety in young adulthood (at age 23/24). Higher cognitive ability in adolescence predicted lower trait anxiety in young adulthood. Resting state functional connectivity between the right LPFC and a cluster of voxels including left precentral gyrus, left postcentral gyrus and superior frontal gyrus mediated the relationship between lower cognitive ability in adolescence and higher trait anxiety in young adulthood. These findings indicate that lower cognitive ability and higher trait anxiety may be both consequences of socioeconomic deprivation in early life. The recruitment of the right LPFC may be the underlying mechanism, through which higher cognitive ability may ameliorate trait anxiety.

• MeSH
• dítě MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• kognice MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• longitudinální studie MeSH
• magnetická rezonanční tomografie * MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• mozek * MeSH
• socioekonomické faktory MeSH
• úzkost MeSH
• Check Tag
• dítě MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH

BACKGROUND: Prenatal stress influences brain development and mood disorder vulnerability. Brain structural covariance network (SCN) properties based on inter-regional volumetric correlations may reflect developmentally-mediated shared plasticity among regions. Childhood trauma is associated with amygdala-centric SCN reorganization patterns, however, the impact of prenatal stress on SCN properties remains unknown. METHODS: The study included participants from the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ELSPAC) with archival prenatal stress data and structural MRI acquired in young adulthood (age 23-24). SCNs were constructed based on Freesurfer-extracted volumes of 7 subcortical and 34 cortical regions. We compared amygdala degree centrality, a measure of hubness, between those exposed to high vs. low (median split) prenatal stress, defined by maternal reports of stressful life events during the first (n = 93, 57% female) and second (n = 125, 54% female) half of pregnancy. Group differences were tested across network density thresholds (5-40%) using 10,000 permutations, with sex and intracranial volume as covariates, followed by sex-specific analyses. Finally, we sought to replicate our results in an independent all-male sample (n = 450, age 18-20) from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). RESULTS: The high-stress during the first half of pregnancy ELSPAC group showed lower amygdala degree particularly in men, who demonstrated this difference at 10 consecutive thresholds, with no significant differences in global network properties. At the lowest significant density threshold, amygdala volume was positively correlated with hippocampus, putamen, rostral anterior and posterior cingulate, transverse temporal, and pericalcarine cortex in the low-stress (p(FDR) < 0.027), but not the high-stress (p(FDR) > 0.882) group. Although amygdala degree was nominally lower across thresholds in the high-stress ALSPAC group, these results were not significant. CONCLUSION: Unlike childhood trauma, prenatal stress may shift SCN towards a less amygdala-centric SCN pattern, particularly in men. These findings did not replicate in an all-male ALSPAC sample, possibly due to the sample's younger age and lower prenatal stress exposure.

• MeSH
• amygdala * diagnostické zobrazování   MeSH
• dítě MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• hipokampus MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• longitudinální studie MeSH
• magnetická rezonanční tomografie * MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• mozek MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• Check Tag
• dítě MeSH
• dospělí MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• mladiství MeSH
• mladý dospělý MeSH
• mužské pohlaví MeSH
• těhotenství MeSH
• ženské pohlaví MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural MeSH

BACKGROUND: Biological aging and particularly the deviations between biological and chronological age are better predictors of health than chronological age alone. However, the predictors of accelerated biological aging are not very well understood. The aim was to determine the role of birth outcomes, time of puberty onset, body mass index (BMI), and body fat in accelerated biological aging in the third decade of life. METHODS: We have conducted a second follow-up of the Czech part of the European Longitudinal Study of Pregnancy and Childhood (ELSPAC-CZ) prenatal birth cohort in young adulthood (52% male; age 28-30; n = 262) to determine the role of birth outcomes, pubertal timing, BMI, and body fat on biological aging. Birth outcomes included birth weight, length, and gestational age at birth. Pubertal timing was determined by the presence of secondary sexual characteristics at the age of 11 and the age of first menarche in women. Biological age was estimated using the Klemera-Doubal Method (KDM), which applies 9-biomarker algorithm including forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), systolic blood pressure, glycated hemoglobin, total cholesterol, C-reactive protein, creatinine, urea nitrogen, albumin, and alkaline phosphatase. Accelerated/decelerated aging was determined as the difference between biological and chronological age (BioAGE). RESULTS: The deviations between biological and chronological age in young adulthood ranged from -2.84 to 4.39 years. Accelerated biological aging was predicted by higher BMI [in both early (R2adj = 0.05) and late 20s (R2adj = 0.22)], subcutaneous (R2adj = 0.21) and visceral fat (R2adj = 0.25), puberty onset (η p2 = 0.07), birth length (R2adj = 0.03), and the increase of BMI over the 5-year period between the two follow-ups in young adulthood (R2adj = 0.09). Single hierarchical model revealed that shorter birth length, early puberty onset, and greater levels of visceral fat were the main predictors, together explaining 21% of variance in accelerated biological aging. CONCLUSION: Our findings provide comprehensive support of the Life History Theory, suggesting that early life adversity might trigger accelerated aging, which leads to earlier onset of puberty but decreasing fitness in adulthood, reflected by more visceral fat and higher BMI. Our findings also suggest that reduction of BMI in young adulthood slows down biological aging.

• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH