Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T12:59:47.681Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Associations between birth weight, preeclampsia and cognitive functions in middle-aged adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 October 2011

P. Factor-Litvak ,
N. Straka ,
S. Cherkerzian ,
M. Richards ,
X. Liu ,
A. Sher ,
G. Neils  and
J. Goldstein
P. Factor-Litvak*
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
N. Straka
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
S. Cherkerzian
Affiliation:
Brigham & Women's Hospital Departments of Psychiatry and Medicine, Division of Women's Health, Connors Center for Women's Health & Gender Biology, Boston, MA, USA Departments of Psychiatry and Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
M. Richards
Affiliation:
Medical Research Council (MRC) Unit for Lifelong Health and Aging, London, UK Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, London, UK
X. Liu
Affiliation:
Department of Biostatistics, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
A. Sher
Affiliation:
ICSD.USA, Millburn NJ, USA
G. Neils
Affiliation:
Sergievsky Center, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
J. Goldstein
Affiliation:
Brigham & Women's Hospital Departments of Psychiatry and Medicine, Division of Women's Health, Connors Center for Women's Health & Gender Biology, Boston, MA, USA Departments of Psychiatry and Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA Department of Psychiatry, Division of Psychiatric Neuroscience, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr P. Factor-Litvak, Department of Epidemiology, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA. (Email prf1@columbia.edu)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Both reductions in birth weight and preeclampsia (PE) have been associated with decrements in scores on tests of intelligence in children and adolescents. We examined whether these decrements persist into middle adulthood and expand into other domains of cognitive functioning. Using data from the Early Determinants of Adult Health project and from the ancillary project, Fetal Antecedents of Major Depression and Cardiovascular Disease, we selected term same-sex sibling sets or singletons from these sets, from the New England Family Study (NEFS) and the Child Health and Development Studies (CHDS), discordant on either fetal growth or PE, to test the hypotheses that prenatal exposure to inflammation was associated with decrements in attention, learning and executive function 40 years later. Exposure was defined as a continuous measure of percentile birth weight for gestational age, reduced fetal growth (<20th percentile of birth weight for gestational age) or maternal PE. Given that the sample was comprised, in part, of sibling sets, the analyses were performed using mixed models to account for the inter-sibling correlations. Analyses were performed separately by study site (i.e. NEFS and CHDS). We found few statistically significant associations (suggesting a possible type II error) consistent with previous literature, suggesting that the associations with low birth weight do not persist into midlife. We discuss the possible reasons for the lack of associations, which include the possible mediating effects of the postnatal environment.

Keywords

fetal programmingneurocognitionfetal growth
Type
Original Articles
Information
Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease , Volume 2 , Special Issue 6: The Early Determinants of Adult Health Study , December 2011 , pp. 365 - 374
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Breslau, N. Psychiatric sequelae of low birth weight. Epidemiol Rev. 1995; 17, 96–106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2. Rieder, RO, Broman, SH, Rosenthal, D. The offspring of schizophrenics: II. Perinatal factors and IQ. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1977; 34, 789–799.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3. Many, A, Fattal, A, Leitner, Y, Kupfermine, MJ, Harel, S, Jaffa, A. Neurodevelopmental and cognitive assessment of children born growth restricted to mothers with and without preeclampsia. Hypertens Pregnancy. 2003; 22, 25–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4. Many, A, Fattal-Valevski, A, Leitner, Y. Neurodevelopmental and cognitive assessment of 6-year old children born growth restricted. Int J Gynecol Obstet. 2005; 89, 55–56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5. Ehrenstein, V, Rothman, KJ, Pedersen, L, Hatch, EE, Sorensen, HT. Pregnancy-associated hypertensive disorders and adult cognitive function among Danish conscripts. Amer J Epidemiol. 2009; 170, 1025–1031.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6. Ounsted, MK, Moar, VA, Good, FJ, Redman, CWG. Hypertension during pregnancy with and without specific treatment; the development of children at the age of four years. Brit J Obstet Gynecol. 1980; 87, 19–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7. Ounsted, M, Cockburn, J, Moar, VA, Redman, CWG. Maternal hypertension with superimposed pre-eclampsia: effects on child development at 7.5 years. Brit J Obstet Gynecol. 1983; 90, 644–649.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8. Seidman, DS, Laor, A, Gale, R, et al. . Pre-eclampsia and offspring's blood pressure, cognitive ability and physical development at 17-years-of-age. Brit J Obstet Gynecol. 1991; 98, 1009–1014.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9. Klein, NK, Hack, M, Breslau, N. Children who were very low birth weight: development and academic achievement at nine years of age. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 1989; 10, 32–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10. Breslau, N, Delrotto, J, Brown, GG, et al. . A gradient relationship between low birth weight and IQ at age 6 years. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 1994; 148, 377–383.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11. Breslau, N, Chilcoat, H, DelDotto, J, Andreski, P, Brown, G. Low birth weight and neurocognitive status at six years of age. Biol Psychiatry. 1996; 40, 389–397.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12. Petersen, M, Greisen, G, Kovacs, R, Munck, H, Friis-Hansen, B. Status at four years of age in 280 children weighing 2300 g or less at birth. Dan Med Bull. 1990; 37, 546–552.Google ScholarPubMed
13. Mutch, L, Leyland, A, McGee, A. Patterns of neuropsychological function in a low-birthweight population. Dev Med Child Neurol. 1993; 35, 943–956.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
14. Rikards, AL, Kitchen, WH, Doyle, LW, et al. . Cognition, school performance and behavior in very low birth weight and normal birth weight children at 8 years of age: a longitudinal study. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 1993; 14, 363–368.Google Scholar
15. Roth, SC, Baudin, J, McCormick, DC, et al. . Relation between ultrasound appearance of the brain of very preterm infants and neurodevelopmental impairment at eight years. Dev Med Child Neurol. 1993; 35, 755–768.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
16. Matte, TD, Bresnahan, M, Begg, M, Susser, E. Influence of variation in birth weight within normal range and within sibships on IQ at age 7 years: cohort study. Br Med J. 2001; 323, 310–314.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17. Hardy, JB, Mellits, ED. Relationship of low birth weight to maternal characteristics of age, parity, education and body size. In The Epidemiology of Prematurity: Epidemiology Workshop, National Institute of Child Health and Development, 1976 (ed. Reed DM), 1977. Urban and Schwarzenberg: Baltimore.Google Scholar
18. Sorensen, HT, Sabroe, S, Olsen, J, et al. . Birth weight and cognitive function in young adult life: historical cohort study. Br Med J. 1997; 315, 401–403.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19. Richards, M, Hardy, R, Kuh, D, Wadsworth, ME. Birth weight and cognitive function in the British 1946 birth cohort: longitudinal population based study. Br Med J. 2001; 322, 199–202.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20. Collaer, ML, Hines, M. Human behavioral sex differences: a role for gonadal hormones during early development? Psychol Bull. 1995; 118, 55–107.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
21. Goldstein, JM, Seidman, LJ, Goodman, JM, et al. . Are there sex differences in neuropsychological functions among patients with schizophrenia? Amer J Psychiatry. 1998; 155, 1358–1364.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
22. Goldstein, JM, Seidman, LJ, Santangelo, S, Knapp, P, Tsuang, MT. Are schizophrenic men at higher risk for developmental deficits than schizophrenic women? Implications for adult neuropsychological function. J Psychiatr Res. 1994; 28, 483–489.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23. Goldstein, JM, Walder, DJ. Sex differences in schizophrenia: the case for developmental origins and etiological implications. In The Early Course of Schizophrenia (eds. Sharma T, Harvey P), 2006, pp. 147–173. Oxford University Press, United Kingdom.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24. Goldstein, JM, Seidman, LJ, Horton, NJ, et al. . Normal sexual dimorphism of the adult human brain assessed by in vivo magnetic resonance imaging. Cereb Cortex. 2001; 11, 490–497.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
25. Nunez, JL, McCarthy, MM. Sex differences and hormonal effects in a model of preterm infant brain injury. Ann NY Acad Sci. 2003; 1008, 281–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26. Lauterbach, MD, Raz, S, Sander, CJ. Neonatal hypoxic risk in preterm birth infants: the influence of sex and severity of respiratory distress on cognitive recovery. Neuropsychology. 2001; 15, 411–420.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
27. Clark, AS, Goldman-Rakic, PS. Gonadal hormones influence the emergence of cortical function in nonhuman primates. Behav Neurosci. 1989; 103, 1287–1295.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
28. Oken, E, Kleinman, KP, Rich-Edwards, J, Gillman, MW. A nearly continuous measure of birth weight for gestational age using a United States national reference. BMC Pediatr. 2003; 3, 6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
29. National High Blood Pressure Education Program Working Group. Report on high blood pressure in pregnancy. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1990; 163, 1691–1712.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
30. Seidman, LJ, Breiter, HC, Goodman, JM, et al. . A functional magnetic resonance imaging study of auditory vigilance with low and high information processing demands. Neuropsychology. 1998; 12, 505–518.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
31. Delis, DC, Kramer, JH, Kaplan, E, Ober, BA. California Verbal Learning Test, 2nd edn (CVLT-II), 2000. Psychological Corporation: San Antonio, TX.Google Scholar
32. Bolla, KI, Lindgren, KN, Bonaccorsy, C, Bleecker, ML. Predictors of verbal fluency (FAS) in the healthy elderly. J Clin Psychol. 1990; 45, 623–628.3.0.CO;2-C>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
33. Wechsler, D. Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, 3rd edn (WAIS-III), 1997. Psychological Corporation, San Antonio, TX.Google Scholar
34. Usui, N, Haji, T, Maruyama, M, et al. . Cortical areas related to performance of WAIS digit symbol test: a functional imaging study. Neurosci Lett. 2009; 463, 1–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
35. First, MB, Gibbon, M, Spitzer, RL, Williams, JBW, Benjamin, LS. Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Personality Disorders (SCID-II) 1997. American Psychiatric Press, Inc., Washington, DC.Google Scholar
36. Myrianthopoulos, NC, French, KS. An application of the US bureau of the census socioeconomic index to a large diversified patient population. Soc Sci Med. 1968; 2, 283–299.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
37. Gelman, A, Hill, J. Data Analysis Using Regression and Multilevel/Hierarchical Models, 2006. Cambridge University Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
38. Hutcheon, JA, Platt, RW. The missing data problem in birth weight percentiles and thresholds for “small-for-gestational-age”. Amer J Epidemiol. 2008; 167, 786–792.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
39. Shenkin, SD, Starr, JM, Deary, IJ. Birth weight and cognitive ability in childhood: a systematic review. Psychol Bull. 2004; 130, 989–1013.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
40. Jefferis, BJ, Power, C, Hertzman, C. Birth weight, childhood socioeconomic environment and cognitive development in the 1958 British birth cohort study. Br Med J. 2002; 325, 305–310.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
41. Eriksen, W, Sundet, JM, Tambs, K. Birth weight standardized to gestational age and intelligence in young adulthood: a register-based birth cohort study of male siblings. Amer J Epidemiol. 2010; 172, 530–536.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
42. Eide, MG, Oyen, N, Skjaerven, R, Bjerkedal, T. Associations of birth size, gestational age, and adult size with intellectual performance: evidence from a cohort of Norwegian men. Pediatr Res. 2007; 62, 636–642.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
43. Martyn, CN, Gale, CR, Sayer, AA, Fall, C. Growth in utero and cognitive function in adult life: follow up study of people born between 1920 and 1943. Br Med J. 1996; 312, 1393–1396.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
44. Kaplan, GA, Turrell, G, Lynch, JW, et al. . Childhood socioeconomic position and cognitive function in adulthood. Int J Epidemiol. 2001; 30, 256–263.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
45. Susser, E, Eide, MG, Begg, M. Invited commentary: the use of sibship studies to detect familial confounding. Amer J Epidemiol. 2010; 172, 530–536.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
46. Schendel, D, Rice, C, Cunniff, C. The contribution of rare diseases to understanding the epidemiology of neurodevelopmental disabilities. Adv Exp Med Biol. 2010; 686, 433–453.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
47. Goldstein, JM, Lewine, RRJ. Overview of sex differences in schizophrenia: where have we been and where do we go from here? In Women and Schizophrenia (eds. Castle DJ, McGrath, Kulkarni J), 2000, pp. 111–143. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.Google Scholar
48. Goldstein, JM, Seidman, LJ, O'Brien, L, et al. . Impact of normal sexual dimorphisms on sex differences in structural brain abnormalities in schizophrenia assessed by magnetic resonance imaging. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2002; 59, 154–164.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
49. Anastario, M, Salafia, CM, Fitzmaurice, G, Goldstein, JM. Impact of fetal versus perinatal hypoxia on sex differences in childhood outcomes: developmental timing matters. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol, doi:10.1007/S00127-011-0353-0.Google Scholar
50. De Courten-Myers, GM. The human cerebral cortex: gender differences in structure and function. J Neuropath Exp Neurol. 1999; 58, 217–226.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
51. Resnick, SM, Berenbaum, SA, Gottesman, II, Bouchard, TJ Jr. Early hormonal influences on cognitive functioning in congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Dev Psychol. 1986; 22, 191–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
52. Murphy, DGM, Allen, G, Haxby, JV, et al. . The effects of sex steroids, and the X chromosome on female brain function: a study of the neuropsychology of Turner syndrome. Neuropsychologia. 1994; 32, 1309–1323.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
53. Schumacher, M, Legros, JJ, Balthazart, J. Steroid hormones, behavior and sexual dimorphism in animals and men: the nature–nuture controversy. Exp Clin Endocrinol. 1987; 90, 129–156.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
54. Raz, S, Lauterbach, MD, Hopkins, TL, et al. . A female advantage in cognitive recovery from early cerebral insult. Dev Psychol. 1995; 31, 958–966.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
55. Bowers, JM, Waddell, J, McCarthy, MM. A developmental sex difference in hippocampal neurogenesis is mediated by endogenous oestradiol. Biol Sex Differ. 2010; 22, 8–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
56. Zhang, JM, Konkle, AT, Zup, SL, McCarthy, MM. Impact of sex and hormones on new cells in the developing rat hippocampus: a novel source of sex dimorphism? Eur J Neurosci. 2008; 27, 791–800.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
57. Benes, FM, Turtle, M, Khan, Y, Farol, P. Myelination of a key relay zone in the hippocampal formation occurs in the human brain during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1994; 51, 477–484.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
58. Jernigan, TL, Trauner, DA, Hesselink, JR, Tallal, PA. Maturation of human cerebrum observed in vivo during adolescence. Brain. 1991; 114, 2037–2049.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
59. Giedd, JN, Snell, JW, Lange, N, et al. . Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging of human brain development: ages 4–18. Cereb Cortex. 1996; 6, 551–560.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
60. Witelson, SF. Neural sexual mosaicism: sexual differentiation of the human temporo-parietal region for functional asymmetry. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 1991; 16, 131–153.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
61. Saykin, AJ, Gur, RC, Gur, RE, et al. . Normative neuropsychological test performance: effects of age, education, gender and ethnicity. Appl Neuropsychol. 1995; 2, 79–85.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
62. Gur, RC, Turetsky, BI, Matsui, M, et al. . Sex differences in brain gray and white matter in healthy young adults: correlations with cognitive performance. J Neurosci. 1999; 19, 4065–4072.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
63. Harasty, J, Double, KL, Halliday, GM, Kril, JJ, McRitchie, DA. Language-associated cortical regions are proportionally larger in the female brain. Arch Neurol. 1997; 54, 171–176.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
64. Singh-Manoux, A, Richards, M, Marmot, M. Socioeconomic position across the lifescourse: how does it relate to cognitive function in mid-life? Ann Epidemiol. 2005; 15, 572–578.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
65. Grunau, RE, Whitfield, MF, Fay, TB. Psychosocial and academic characteristics of extremely low birth weight (⩽800 g) adolescents who are free of major impairment compared with term-born control subjects. Pediatrics. 2004; 114, e725–e732.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
66. Taylor, HG, Hack, M, Klein, NK. Attention deficits in children with <750 gm birth weight. Child Neuropsychol. 1998; 4, 21–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
67. Elgren, I, Lundervold, AJ, Sommerfelt, K. Aspects of inattention in low birth weight children. Ped Neurol. 2004; 30, 92–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
68. Martel, MM, Lucia, VC, Nigg, JT, Breslau, N. Sex differences in the pathway from low birth weight to inattention/hyperactivity. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2007; 35, 87–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
69. Factor-Litvak, P, Sher, A. Invited commentary: coming out of the box. Amer J Epidemiol. 2009; 169, 1179–1181.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Factor-Litvak Supplementary Material

Factor-Litvak Supplementary Material

Download Factor-Litvak Supplementary Material(File)
File 30.7 KB