Abstract
Author(s): Davis, EP; Sandman, CA | Abstract: Stress has significant consequences throughout the lifetime. However, when it occurs early in life, the implications may be particularly profound and long lasting. Evidence suggests that high levels of maternal stress during pregnancy are associated with alterations in the normal activity of the maternal hypothlalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) and placental axis. Increased activity of this system is related to shortened gestation and impaired fetal growth, factors that place infants at a greater risk for a wide variety of developmental problems. In addition to the implications for birth outcome, our findings suggest that prenatal exposure to stress and stress hormones directly influences development of the fetal central nervous system (CNS). Fetuses who are exposed to disregulated production of stress hormones display impaired learning. Elevated levels of stress or stress hormones during pregnancy are also associated with more difficult infant temperament and disruption of infant HPA axis activity. These data suggest that prenatal experiences can have lasting implications for development. © 2006 Lippincott Williams a Wilkins, Inc.
Highlights
Our observations suggest that Prenatal drug exposure (PDE) and stress-related change in the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA)
The findings are noteworthy given the effects of PDE were observed when individuals reached adolescence, and that the nature of the effects manifested across a range of cognitive performance scales
It is thought that stressors during pregnancy, such as PDE, alter the fetal development of physiological systems such as the HPA axis, which may influence later stress reactivity [2,3,4,5,6,7]
Summary
In a prospective longitudinal study we examine whether PDE moderates the link between stress reactivity and cognitive functioning in adolescence. Participants were 76 prenatally drug exposed and 61 non-exposed (NE) community comparison African American youth All participants completed neuropsychological and academic achievement tests Children’s Version, and the Wide Range Achievement Test 4) over the course of one day in a laboratory setting. PDE moderated the association between stress reactivity and 11 of 15 cognitive performance scales. The NE-stress reactive group had better cognitive performance than either the NE-lower cortisol reactive group or the PDE group regardless of stress reactivity status. Stress-related reactivity and regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in adolescence may be disrupted by PDE, and the disruption may be linked to lower cognitive performance
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