This study focuses on hippocampal and amygdala volume, seed-based connectivity, and psychological traits of Holocaust survivors who experienced stress during prenatal and early postnatal development. We investigated people who lived in Central Europe during the Holocaust and who, as Jews, were in imminent danger. The group who experienced stress during their prenatal development and early postnatal (PreP) period (n = 11) were compared with a group who experienced Holocaust-related stress later in their lives: in late childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood (ChA) (n = 21). The results of volumetry analysis showed significantly lower volumes of both hippocampi and the right amygdala in the PreP group. Seed-based connectivity analysis revealed increased connectivity from the seed in the right amygdala to the middle and posterior cingulate cortex, caudate, and inferior left frontal operculum in the PreP group. Psychological testing found higher levels of traumatic stress symptoms (TCS-40) and lower levels of well-being (SOS-10) in the PreP group than in the ChA group. The results of our study demonstrate that extreme stress experienced during prenatal and early postnatal life has a profound lifelong impact on the hippocampus and amygdala and on several psychological characteristics.

• MeSH
• Amygdala MeSH
• Child MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Hippocampus MeSH
• Holocaust * MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Survivors MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Vitamins MeSH
• Check Tag
• Child MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Names of Substances
• Vitamins 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
• Child MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Intelligence Tests MeSH
• Cognition * MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Longitudinal Studies MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Infant, Newborn MeSH
• Parents * MeSH
• Educational Status MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Check Tag
• Child MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Infant, Newborn MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 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.

• Keywords
• anxiety, depression, fMRI, sex differences,
• MeSH
• Depression * MeSH
• Child MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Hippocampus MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Longitudinal Studies MeSH
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Prospective Studies MeSH
• Socioeconomic Factors MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Anxiety * MeSH
• Check Tag
• Child MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Pregnancy MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 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.

• Keywords
• birth cohort, cognition, epidemiology, trait anxiety,
• MeSH
• Child MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Cognition MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Longitudinal Studies MeSH
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging * MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Brain * MeSH
• Socioeconomic Factors MeSH
• Anxiety MeSH
• Check Tag
• Child MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH