Elysia Poggi Davis

TL;DR: It is demonstrated that even modest decreases in the duration of gestation can exert profound and lasting effects on neurodevelopment for both term and preterm infants and may contribute to long-term risk for health and disease.

TL;DR: Elevated levels of maternal cortisol and pregnancy-specific anxiety have programming influences on the developing fetus and are associated with lower 12-month mental development scores.

TL;DR: Elevated maternal cortisol at 30-32 weeks of gestation, but not earlier in pregnancy, was significantly associated with greater maternal report of infant negative reactivity, and prenatal exposure to maternal stress has consequences for the development of infant temperament.

TL;DR: Higher maternal cortisol levels in early gestation was associated with more affective problems in girls, and this association was mediated, in part, by amygdala volume, while no association between maternal cortisol in pregnancy and child hippocampus volume was observed in either sex.

TL;DR: This is the first prospective study to show that a specific temporal pattern of pregnancy anxiety is related to specific changes in brain morphology, and altered gray matter volume in brain regions affected by prenatal maternal anxiety may render the developing individual more vulnerable to neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders as well as cognitive and intellectual impairment.