Cord blood DNA methylation modifications in infants are associated with white matter microstructure in the context of prenatal maternal depression and anxiety.

Maternal and environmental factors influence brain networks and architecture via both physiological pathways and epigenetic modifications. In particular, prenatal maternal depression and anxiety symptoms appear to impact infant white matter (WM) microstructure, leading us to investigate whether epigenetic modifications (i.e., DNA methylation) contribute to these WM differences. To determine if infants of women with depression and anxiety symptoms exhibit epigenetic modifications linked to neurodevelopmental changes, 52 umbilical cord bloods (CBs) were profiled. We observed 219 differentially methylated genomic positions (DMPs; FDR p < 0.05) in CB that were associated with magnetic resonance imaging measures of WM microstructure at 1 month of age and in regions previously described to be related to maternal depression and anxiety symptoms. Genomic characterization of these associated DMPs revealed 143 unique genes with significant relationships to processes involved in neurodevelopment, GTPase activity, or the canonical Wnt signaling pathway. Separate regression models for female (n = 24) and male (n = 28) infants found 142 associated DMPs in females and 116 associated DMPs in males (nominal p value < 0.001, R > 0.5), which were annotated to 98 and 81 genes, respectively. Together, these findings suggest that umbilical CB DNA methylation levels at birth are associated with 1-month WM microstructure.

Brooding, Inattention, and Impulsivity as Predictors of Adolescent Suicidal Ideation.

Although suicide remains a leading cause of death for adolescents, risk factors beyond diagnoses and suicide attempt history remain unclear. We examined whether cognitive style and temperament impact risk for an early, yet still clinically relevant and distressing, form of suicidality: active suicidal ideation. We used binary logistic regression to test whether brooding, inattention, and impulsivity predicted significantly increased risk for suicidal ideation in a sample of 134 twins, 46 of whom endorsed active suicidal ideation (i.e., probands), as well as probands' cotwins and matched controls. When comparing probands with controls and controlling for depression diagnoses, brooding (B = 0.73, Odds Ratio [OR] = 2.07, p = 0.021), inattention (B = 1.09, OR = 2.98, p < 0.001), and impulsivity (B = 0.91, OR = 2.47, p = 0.001) differentiated probands from controls, individually. We compared probands with their cotwins using the same approach, which allowed us to account for variance in suicidal ideation risk related to twins' shared, familial characteristics (e.g., prenatal environment, neighborhood); inattention was the only significant predictor of suicidal ideation risk (B = 0.66, OR = 1.93, p = 0.020). We then fit a logistic regression model that included all three predictors. Only inattention predicted significantly increased likelihood of suicidal ideation in proband versus controls and proband versus cotwin comparisons (B = 0.88, OR = 2.40, p = 0.024 and B = 0.67, OR = 1.96, p = 0.045, respectively). These results highlight the potential utility of examining novel, more proximal risk factors for suicidal ideation in addition to more established distal factors, like suicide attempt history and psychiatric diagnoses.

Parent-Offspring Transmission of Internalizing and Sensory over-Responsivity Symptoms in Adolescence.

Reactions to sensory experiences are an overlooked correlate of affective regulation, despite the importance of bodily states on psychological processes. Children who display sensory over-responsivity (i.e., adverse reactions to typical sensations) are at greater risk for developing affective disorders. We extended this literature to adolescents and their middle-aged parents. Participants in a birth record-based study of families of adolescent twins (N = 506 families; 1012 adolescents; 53% female) completed a subset of items from the Adult Sensory Profile. We derived adolescent self-reported internalizing disorder symptoms and parent affective diagnoses from structured diagnostic interviews. Structural equation models tested the relationship between parent sensory over-responsivity symptoms and affective diagnoses and their adolescent offspring's sensory over-responsivity and internalizing symptoms. Adolescent sensory over-responsivity symptoms were correlated with internalizing disorder symptoms. Parents with a diagnosis of anxiety or depression (mothers only) reported more frequent SOR symptoms than parents without a diagnosis. Parent depression was significantly related to adolescent sensory over-responsivity symptoms, over and above parent sensory over-responsivity symptoms (ß = 0.26, p < 0.001 for mothers; ß = 0.13, p = 0.004 for fathers). Father alcohol abuse/dependency also predicted offspring sensory over-responsivity symptoms. Offspring of parents with affective disorders were at additional risk for sensory dysregulation via parents' influence on offspring internalizing problems.

Short- and long-term stability of alpha asymmetry in infants: Baseline and affective measures.

Asymmetry in cortical activity was tested for short- and long-term stability during the first year of life. Infants (N = 129) completed a total of four laboratory visits: two visits occurred about 1 week apart when infants were 6 months old, and two visits occurred about 1 week apart when infants were 12 months of age. At each laboratory visit, EEG readings were taken during five 1-min, neutral baselines as well as during a negative and a positive emotion-eliciting task. The stability of hemispheric asymmetry was assessed at midfrontal (F3/4, F7/8) and parietal (P3/4) electrode sites. Asymmetry in baseline and fear-eliciting episodes showed moderate short-term stability. Long-term stability was apparent when assessments were composited at 6 months and 12 months. Frontal asymmetry was greater than parietal asymmetry for baseline recordings. There was minimal evidence for stability in asymmetry during positive emotion tasks. Results are discussed with regard to the collection and interpretation of alpha asymmetry measures during infancy.

Infant and toddler oral- and manual-motor skills predict later speech fluency in autism.

BACKGROUND: Spoken and gestural communication proficiency varies greatly among autistic individuals. Three studies examined the role of oral- and manual-motor skill in predicting autistic children's speech development. METHODS: Study 1 investigated whether infant and toddler oral- and manual-motor skills predict middle childhood and teenage speech fluency; Study 2 verified those early infant and toddler predictions with historical home video; and Study 3 assessed the relation between autistic children's current-day oral-motor skill and their speech fluency. RESULTS: Infant and toddler oral-motor and manual-motor skills inter-correlated significantly, distinguished autistic children (N = 115) from typically developing children (N = 44), and distinguished autistic children whose current-day speech was minimally fluent (N = 33), moderately fluent (N = 39), and highly fluent (N = 39). These results were corroborated by analysis of historical home video (N = 32) and verified with current-day assessment (N = 40). CONCLUSIONS: The prominent associations among early oral- and manual-motor skills and later speech fluency bear implications for understanding communication in autism. For instance, these associations challenge the common assumption (made even in diagnostic criteria) that manual modes of communication are available to autistic individuals - if simply they choose to use them. These associations also highlight a potential confound from manual-motor skills when assessing autistic cognition, receptive language, and 'nonverbal' social communication.