Maternal mindfulness and anxiety during pregnancy affect infants' neural responses to sounds

Marion I van den Heuvel; Franc C L Donkers; István Winkler; Renée A Otte; Bea R H Van den Bergh

doi:10.1093/scan/nsu075

Maternal mindfulness and anxiety during pregnancy affect infants' neural responses to sounds

Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci. 2015 Mar;10(3):453-60. doi: 10.1093/scan/nsu075. Epub 2014 Jun 12.

Authors

Marion I van den Heuvel¹, Franc C L Donkers², István Winkler², Renée A Otte¹, Bea R H Van den Bergh³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, Tilburg University, The Netherlands, Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, MTA, Budapest, Hungary, Institute of Psychology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary, Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Leuven KU Leuven, Belgium, and Flemish Government, Brussels, Belgium.
² Department of Psychology, Tilburg University, The Netherlands, Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, MTA, Budapest, Hungary, Institute of Psychology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary, Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Leuven KU Leuven, Belgium, and Flemish Government, Brussels, Belgium Department of Psychology, Tilburg University, The Netherlands, Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, MTA, Budapest, Hungary, Institute of Psychology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary, Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Leuven KU Leuven, Belgium, and Flemish Government, Brussels, Belgium.
³ Department of Psychology, Tilburg University, The Netherlands, Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, MTA, Budapest, Hungary, Institute of Psychology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary, Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Leuven KU Leuven, Belgium, and Flemish Government, Brussels, Belgium Department of Psychology, Tilburg University, The Netherlands, Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, MTA, Budapest, Hungary, Institute of Psychology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary, Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Leuven KU Leuven, Belgium, and Flemish Government, Brussels, Belgium Department of Psychology, Tilburg University, The Netherlands, Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, MTA, Budapest, Hungary, Institute of Psychology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary, Department of Psychology, Catholic University of Leuven KU Leuven, Belgium, and Flemish Government, Brussels, Belgium bea.vdnbergh@tilburguniversity.edu.

Abstract

Maternal anxiety during pregnancy has been consistently shown to negatively affect offspring neurodevelopmental outcomes. However, little is known about the impact of positive maternal traits/states during pregnancy on the offspring. The present study was aimed at investigating the effects of the mother's mindfulness and anxiety during pregnancy on the infant's neurocognitive functioning at 9 months of age. Mothers reported mindfulness using the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory and anxiety using the Symptom Checklist (SCL-90) at ± 20.7 weeks of gestation. Event-related brain potentials (ERPs) were measured from 79 infants in an auditory oddball paradigm designed to measure auditory attention-a key aspect of early neurocognitive functioning. For the ERP responses elicited by standard sounds, higher maternal mindfulness was associated with lower N250 amplitudes (P < 0.01, η(2) = 0.097), whereas higher maternal anxiety was associated with higher N250 amplitudes (P < 0.05, η(2) = 0.057). Maternal mindfulness was also positively associated with the P150 amplitudes (P < 0.01, η(2) = 0.130). These results suggest that infants prenatally exposed to higher levels of maternal mindfulness devote fewer attentional resources to frequently occurring irrelevant sounds. The results show that positive traits and experiences of the mother during pregnancy may also affect the unborn child. Emphasizing the beneficial effects of a positive psychological state during pregnancy may promote healthy behavior in pregnant women.

Keywords: anxiety; auditory attention; cognitive development; event-related potential; infant; mindfulness.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Anxiety / psychology*
Attention / physiology
Auditory Perception / physiology*
Child Development / physiology
Electroencephalography
Evoked Potentials
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Male
Maternal Behavior / physiology*
Maternal Behavior / psychology*
Mindfulness*
Mother-Child Relations
Pregnancy / psychology
Stress, Psychological / psychology