ReviewBrain and behavior2018
Maternal hormonal milieu influence on fetal brain development.
Review in Brain and behavior, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 89 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
89 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 184 citations in OpenAlex.
- Do Parental Hormone Levels Synchronize During the Prenatal and Postpartum Periods? A Systematic Review.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2024Pooled it
- Maternal Thyroid Function During Pregnancy or Neonatal Thyroid Function and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Systematic Review.Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.) · 2019Pooled it
- On the importance of including both sexes in animal studies - insights from home-cage monitoring.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2026Review
- Prenatal and childhood exposure to common plasticizers and risk-taking behavior in young adolescents.Environmental research · 2026Article
- Prenatal Stress, Enteric Nervous System Development, and the Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis: A Hypothesis-Generating Framework for Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Fibromyalgia.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- The impact of pregestational stress on neurodevelopment: Implications for autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.The Journal of physiology · 2026Review
- Residential proximity to agricultural pesticide exposures during preconception and pregnancy and associations with Apgar scores in the Az-PEAR study (2006-2020).Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2026Article
- Prenatal and childhood exposure to common plasticizers in relation to emotional and behavioral development through adolescence.The Science of the total environment · 2026Article
- Prenatal phthalate exposure and emotional-behavioral problems in children aged 1.5 to 3 years from the PROTECT birth cohort.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2026Article
- Prenatal exposure to predator odor alters placental glucocorticoid metabolism and affects fetal growth in Brandt's voles (Current zoology · 2026Article
- The dual face of human chorionic gonadotropin in the CNS: neuroprotection, signaling, and possible pathological effects.Archives of gynecology and obstetrics · 2026Review
- Prenatal Dietary Exposure to Endocrine Disruptors and Its Lasting Impact on Offspring Health.Toxics · 2025Review
- GLP-1-Mediated Pregnancy and Neonatal Complications in Mice.Journal of developmental biology · 2025Article
- Beyond Genes: Mechanistic and Epidemiological Insights into Paternal Environmental Influence on Offspring Health.Current environmental health reports · 2025Review
- Key Messages of the Iodine Deficiency Working Group (AKJ): Maternal Hypothyroxinemia Due to Iodine Deficiency and Endocrine Disruptors as Risks for Child Neurocognitive Development.Geburtshilfe und Frauenheilkunde · 2025Article
- Prenatal exposure to phthalate mixtures and child neurodevelopment in toddlers aged 1-3 years from the PROTECT birth cohort.International journal of hygiene and environmental health · 2025Article
- Maternal polycystic ovarian syndrome and offspring psychopathology and neurodevelopment.Human reproduction (Oxford, England) · 2025Review
- Maternal refugee status is associated with less favourable motor performance and behaviour in term infants referred to a neonatal ward: a cross-sectional study.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- Nuclear hormone receptors control fundamental processes of human fetal neurodevelopment: Basis for endocrine disruption assessment.Environment international · 2025Article
- Review
29 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
An adverse maternal hormonal environment during pregnancy can be associated with abnormal brain growth. Subtle changes in fetal brain development have been observed even for maternal hormone levels within the currently accepted physiologic ranges. In this review, we provide an update of the research data on maternal hormonal impact on fetal neurodevelopment, giving particular emphasis to thyroid hormones and glucocorticoids. Thyroid hormones are required for normal brain development. Despite serum TSH appearing to be the most accurate indicator of thyroid function in pregnancy, maternal serum free T4 levels in the first trimester of pregnancy are the major determinant of postnatal psychomotor development. Even a transient period of maternal hypothyroxinemia at the beginning of neurogenesis can confer a higher risk of expressive language and nonverbal cognitive delays in offspring. Nevertheless, most recent clinical guidelines advocate for targeted high-risk case finding during first trimester of pregnancy despite universal thyroid function screening. Corticosteroids are determinant in suppressing cell proliferation and stimulating terminal differentiation, a fundamental switch for the maturation of fetal organs. Not surprisingly, intrauterine exposure to stress or high levels of glucocorticoids, endogenous or synthetic, has a molecular and structural impact on brain development and appears to impair cognition and increase anxiety and reactivity to stress. Limbic regions, such as hippocampus and amygdala, are particularly sensitive. Repeated doses of prenatal corticosteroids seem to have short-term benefits of less respiratory distress and fewer serious health problems in offspring. Nevertheless, neurodevelopmental growth in later childhood and adulthood needs further clarification. Future studies should address the relevance of monitoring the level of thyroid hormones and corticosteroids during pregnancy in the risk stratification for impaired postnatal neurodevelopment.
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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.