PERINATAL DETERMINANTS OF OFFSPRING NEURODEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Abstract Objectives: To understand the preventive potential of the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis in improving fetal and offspring cognitive and emotion regulation (ER) development by: i) identifying modifiable risk factors during pregnancy that may affect offspring cognitive and ER development, ii) understanding the mechanisms involved in altering offspring cognitive and ER development, and iii) testing the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing risk factors and improving offspring cognitive and ER development Methods: Study 1 used data from the Maternal-Infant Research on Environmental Chemicals (MIREC) cohort to examine the effect of prenatal diet quality on executive function (EF) and/or behavioral development in children raised in suboptimal home environments. Studies 2, 3, and 4 are sub-studies of the original Be Health In Pregnancy (BHIP) trial. These studies used a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the effectiveness of a pregnancy nutrition and exercise intervention on improving offspring cognitive and ER development at 12 and 36 months of age. Results: Study 1 suggested that healthier maternal diet quality could potentially benefit child executive function and behaviour in 3–4-year-old children from suboptimal home environments. Studies 2, 3, and 4 found that using an experimental approach, the BHIP maternal nutrition and exercise intervention improved various offspring cognitive and ER outcomes across infancy (12-months) and early childhood (36-months). Conclusion: The studies in this thesis highlight the importance of modifiable risk factors introduced during the prenatal period, and their benefits on fetal and child development, and provide the scientific foundation for larger more diverse RCTs to build upon. If results of future RCTs are similar, the BHIP intervention could represent a significant component of the next successfully implemented research-enabled public health strategy aimed at improving offspring neurodevelopment. Key words: Pregnancy nutrition, pregnancy exercise, fetal neurodevelopment, cognitive development, emotion regulation development, Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD), early childhood