New Study Finds Excess Weight in Pregnant Women May Delay Brain Development of the Child

A new study recently found that obesity in pregnant women may delay the development of the brains of babies as early as the second trimester.

The investigation that NYU Grossman School of Medicine researchers headed, associated high body mass index or BMI, as a gauge of obesity, changes what they identified as "the prefrontal cortex and anterior insula," the two brain areas.

The study also specified that the said regions play a vital role in a pregnant woman's behavior and decision-making, with distractions formerly been associated with "attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD, autism" and excessive eating.

Researchers, in their new study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry today, observed almost 200 groups of nerve cells that are metabolically active in the fetal brain.

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Millions of Calculations Made

Through the use of millions of calculations, the said researchers divided the groups, 196 to be exact, into "16 significant subgroups based on probable links between the groups of neurons."

Specifically, the study authors discovered just two areas of the brain where their link to each other was strongly connected to the BMI of the mother, statistically. 

According to Barakett Associate Professor at NYU Langone Health, Moriah Thomason, Ph.D., their findings confirm "that obesity of a mother may contribute to the development of the fetal brain," which might explain some concerns of the metabolic and cognitive health seen in babies born to mothers who have higher BMI.

In addition, Thomason said, as there comes a continual soar in obesity rates in the US, it is more essential than ever, "To understand how the condition" may affect the early development of the brain.

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The Link Between Obesity and Brain Development in Children After Birth in Previous Studies

Previous research showed the link between obesity and brain development that mostly studied the children's cognitive function at birth.

On the other hand, this new study is believed to be the pioneer in gauging changes in activity in the fetal brain inside the womb and as early as the second trimester into pregnancy. 

This approach, Tomason explained, was developed to disregard the probable impact of breastfeeding and other environmental aspects taking place after birth. 

The work, the associate professor, added, was also designed to study further, "the earliest origins of negative impacts of a mother's BMI" on the development of the child's brain.

Use of MRI Imaging

For this study, the research group signed up 109 women who had BMIs ranging between 25 and 47. Based on the data from the National Institutes of Health, "Women are regarded as "overweight" if their BMI is at least "25 or higher." 

They are considered obese if they have a BMI of 30 and above. The said women in this investigation, according to Thomason, where all six- to nine-month pregnant.

Through the use of an MRI imaging, the research team was able to gauge the fetal brain activity and map communication patterns between large quantities of brain cells gathered together in the brain's different regions.

Furthermore, the researchers compared the research participants to determine differences in how groups of neurons communicate with each other "based on BMI."

Study Authors' Warning

As a result, investigators cautioned that their research was not devised to "draw a direct line" between the differences they discovered and the eventual "cognitive or behavioral problems in babies."

Lastly, the research only looked at activity in the fetal brain. However, explained Thomason, they are now planning to follow the children of their work's participants overtime to figure out if the changes in brain activity could lead to ADHD, behavioral problems, and any other health risk.

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