- Children whose mothers were depressed during pregnancy have a lifelong increased risk of mental illnesses such as anxiety and mood disorders
- This is because they have reduced ‘structural connectivity’ in the right amygdala of their brains – this is the brain region which controls emotion
By
Daily Mail Reporter
10:10 EST, 5 December 2013
|
18:46 EST, 5 December 2013
Pregnant women with depression can pass the condition on to their unborn babies, research has found.
A combination of genetic and environmental factors can put children at an increased risk of anxiety and mood disorders.
This is due to changes in a part of children’s brains called the amygdala, which is responsible for controlling emotion and stress and is linked to anxiety disorders.
Babies can ‘contract’ depression from their mothers while they are still in the womb, new research suggests
Previous research has assessed children years after birth, but not looked at when the changes actually begin.
Researchers
at the National University of Singapore asked 157 pregnant women to
answer a questionnaire to ascertain their mental health during the 26th
week of pregnancy.
Within
two weeks of birth their babies were given MRI scans to look at the
structure of their brains – in particular the amygdala.
It
was found that the mother’s level of depression had no effect on its
volume. However, researchers found reduced ‘structural connectivity’, or
abnormal wiring, in the right amygdala of infants of more depressed
mothers.
The finding suggests that abnormal amygdala function can be
transmitted from mothers to babies before birth.
Researchers
believe that a history of maternal depression might contribute to a
tendency to the life-long increase in the vulnerability to mental
illness in children.
Babies with depressed mothers have abnormal brain wiring, the researchers claim
The
study, published in the current issue of Biological Psychiatry, also
adds weight to the theory that pregnant women should be given mental
health screening and that interventions targeting maternal depression
should begin early in pregnancy, not after the baby is born.
Dr
John Krystal, from the University of Yale School of Medicine and the
Editor of Biological Psychiatry, said: ‘The notion that maternal
depression might influence the brain development of their babies is very
concerning. The good news is that this risk might be reduced by
systematic screening of pregnant women for depression and initiating
effective treatment.’
The findings come as health experts confirm that the number of children suffering from depression is on the rise.
NHS
guidelines brought in this September said that children as young as
five are showing signs of depression and nearly 80,000 children in the
UK are living with the mental illness.
Figures suggest that more than 8,000 children under the age of ten now suffer from depression.
Separate
research, ongoing UK Children of the 90s study, found that teenagers
could be one-and-a-half times more likely to become depressed if their
mothers suffered the condition while they were pregnant.
The
guidelines, set out by the public health agency National Institute for
Health and Care Excellence, say children showing symptoms of depression
need to be properly diagnosed and offered more support.
They advise that ‘age appropriate’ material and techniques should be used to help a child understand their treatment.
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The comments below have not been moderated.
Valentina Rose,
London, United Kingdom,
16 minutes ago
Thanks DM I’m already suffering from depression but now I’m depressed that I’m harming the baby I’m not even pregnant with.
dayofthedaleks,
Cleveland, United States,
27 minutes ago
Ctrl-F “Epigenetics†not found?!?
dayofthedaleks,
Cleveland, United States,
27 minutes ago
Ctrl-F “Epigenetics†not found?!?
hottoddy2,
London, United Kingdom,
1 hour ago
What a load of nonsense? Just because someone writes it, doesn’t make it true. Use your brain and think for yourself.
seanbeanisfitt,
us citizen living in uk, United Kingdom,
2 hours ago
are us women supposed to be put in a bubble during pregnancy then? I think overly stressing out pregnant women is not a good idea by publishing this tripe either.
EUSSR,
London,
2 hours ago
This is an incredibly naive and dangerous type research; the depressives have made some of the biggest leaps in mankind¿s thinking. Look at all the worlds best, they are all basically depressives. Seriously, Einstein, Jung etc etc. I certainly don’t agree that even if you could ‘drug up’ women you would change the outcome at birth and the chemical zombie effect could easily lead to other development implications.
What next? Giving women more testosterone during pregnancy to ensure their male baby is indeed heterosexual?
YouarescaringmeDailyMail,
Fearland,
3 hours ago
Great that’s very helpful – I had a major breakdown during one of my pregnancies.
dubgirl,
wales, United Kingdom,
3 hours ago
Wow, this paper is sure full of women haters.
Poppy Clarke,
Croydon, United Kingdom,
4 hours ago
Wow I thought it was called genetics not brain wiring
ramusient,
aberdeen, United Kingdom,
4 hours ago
I,ve bin eatin by as shark in dat picdure over their
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