ArticleCerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)2017
Prenatal Maternal Cortisol Has Sex-Specific Associations with Child Brain Network Properties.
Article in Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991), 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 47 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
47 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 79 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neonatal Hair Cortisol and Birth Outcomes: An Empirical Study and Meta-Analysis.Psychosomatic medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Effect of Musical Stimulation on Placental Programming and Neurodevelopment Outcome of Preterm Infants: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Perinatal HPA axis regulation and offspring neuropsychiatric development: mechanisms, developmental trajectories, and clinical implications.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- Paternal and Maternal Exposures to Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Child Behavioral Difficulties: A Parental Comparison Study.Environmental science & technology · 2025Article
- Discrimination and adverse birth outcomes among Latina women: The protective role of social support.Cultural diversity & ethnic minority psychology · 2025Article
- Mental Disorders Among Offspring Prenatally Exposed to Systemic Glucocorticoids.JAMA network open · 2025Article
- Immune Alterations in the Intrauterine Environment Shape Offspring Brain Development in a Sex-Specific Manner.Biological psychiatry · 2025Review
- Neuroactive steroids in the programming of neurodevelopment: implications of maternal obesity.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Review
- DHEA: a neglected biological signal that may affect fetal and child development.Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines · 2024Article
- Higher prenatal anxiety predicts lower neonatal hair cortisol.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- Impact of prenatal maternal depression on gestational length: post hoc analysis of a randomized clinical trial.EClinicalMedicine · 2024Article
- Sex-specific associations between placental corticotropin releasing hormone and problem behaviors in childhood.Psychoneuroendocrinology · 2024Article
- Sex Differences in Stress Susceptibility as a Key Mechanism Underlying Depression Risk.Current psychiatry reports · 2024Review
- The Association Between Maternal Cortisol and Infant Amygdala Volume Is Moderated by Socioeconomic Status.Biological psychiatry global open science · 2023Article
- A framework for testing pathways from prenatal stress-responsive hormones to cardiovascular disease risk.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Review
- Maternal perinatal depression and child neurocognitive development: A relationship still to be clarified.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- First Trimester Dexamethasone Treatment Is Not Associated With Alteration in Resting-state Connectivity at Adolescent or Adult Age.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2022Article
- The glucocorticoid footprint on the memory engram.Current opinion in endocrine and metabolic research · 2022Article
- Acute stress promotes brain network integration and reduces state transition variability.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- Role of Maternal Depression on Child Development: A Prospective Analysis from Pregnancy to Early Childhood.Child psychiatry and human development · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Elevated maternal cortisol concentrations have the potential to alter fetal development in a sex-specific manner. Female brains are known to show adaptive behavioral and anatomical flexibility in response to early-life exposure to cortisol, but it is not known how these sex-specific effects manifest at the whole-brain structural networks. A prospective longitudinal study of 49 mother child dyads was conducted with serial assessments of maternal cortisol levels from 15 to 37 gestational weeks. We modeled the structural network of typically developing children (aged 6-9 years) and examined its global connectome properties, rich-club organization, and modular architecture. Network segregation was susceptible only for girls to variations in exposure to maternal cortisol during pregnancy. Girls generated more connections than boys to maintain topologically capable and efficient neural circuits, and this increase in neural cost was associated with higher levels of internalizing problems. Maternal cortisol concentrations at 31 gestational weeks gestation were most strongly associated with altered neural connectivity in girls, suggesting a sensitive period for the maternal cortisol-offspring brain associations. Our data suggest that girls exhibit an adaptive response by increasing the neural network connectivity necessary for maintaining homeostasis and efficient brain function across the lifespan.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.