ReviewEarly human development2020
Maternal influences on fetal brain development: The role of nutrition, infection and stress, and the potential for intergenerational consequences.
Review in Early human development, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers, 5 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
71 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 125 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prenatal psychological distress and neurodevelopmental trajectories in the first 3 years: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2025Pooled it
- Relevance of diet in schizophrenia: a review focusing on prenatal nutritional deficiency, obesity, oxidative stress and inflammation.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Pooled it
- The Gestational Effects of Maternal Bone Marker Molecules on Fetal Growth, Metabolism and Long-Term Metabolic Health: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Pooled it
- Prenatal Mercury Exposure and Neurodevelopment up to the Age of 5 Years: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- The Gestational Effects of Maternal Appetite Axis Molecules on Fetal Growth, Metabolism and Long-Term Metabolic Health: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Pooled it
- Omega-3 cord plasma proportions and cognitive function trajectories from 5 to 15 years of age: a population-based cohort study.European journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Maternal Nutritional Status and Intrauterine Programming: Epigenetic Mechanisms and Their Impact on Offspring Health.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Nutrition as the Foundation of Human Capital: Pathways to Holistic Development.Maternal & child nutrition · 2026Review
- Association of severe maternal morbidity with epilepsy diagnosis in children: a population-based birth cohort study.International journal of epidemiology · 2026Article
- Maternal sleep deprivation and developmental programming of brain aging trajectories in offspring.Biogerontology · 2026Review
- Early Gut Microbiota and Neurodevelopmental Trajectories: Implications for Pediatric Neuropsychiatric Vulnerability-A Narrative Review.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Germline and Embryonic Mechanisms in the Epigenetic Inheritance of Neurodevelopmental and Cognitive Traits in Mammals.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- The joint effects of exposure to prenatal pesticides and psychosocial factors on epigenetic age acceleration in the first 5 years of life in a South African birth cohort.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Prenatal supplementation with the gut-derived tryptophan metabolite indole-3-propionic acid alleviates colitis susceptibility in maternal immune-activated offspring mice.Journal of advanced research · 2026Article
- Nutritional Management of Schizophrenia: Gut-Brain Axis Mechanisms and Dietary Interventions.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Review
- Secular trends in the prevalence of low birthweight infants in Japan from 1980 to 2020: a joinpoint regression analysis.Nagoya journal of medical science · 2026Article
- Further integrating social context into comparative and environmental physiology.The Journal of experimental biology · 2026Review
- Mapping brain growth and sex differences across prenatal to postnatal development.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Article
- Depression and Anxiety During Pregnancy in Mexican Women: Prevalence and Associated Factors in the OBESO Cohort Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
11 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
3 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
An optimal early life environment is crucial for ensuring ideal neurodevelopmental outcomes. Brain development consists of a finely tuned series of spatially and temporally constrained events, which may be affected by exposure to a sub-optimal intra-uterine environment. Evidence suggests brain development may be particularly vulnerable to factors such as maternal nutrition, infection and stress during pregnancy. In this review, we discuss how maternal factors such as these can affect brain development and outcome in offspring, and we also identify evidence which suggests that the outcome can, in many cases, be stratified by socio-economic status (SES), with individuals in lower brackets typically having a worse outcome. We consider the relevant epidemiological evidence and draw parallels to mechanisms suggested by preclinical work where appropriate. We also discuss possible transgenerational effects of these maternal factors and the potential mechanisms involved. We conclude that modifiable factors such as maternal nutrition, infection and stress are important contributors to atypical brain development and that SES also likely has a key role.
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Identifiers
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.