Neonatal hippocampal volume moderates the effects of early postnatal enrichment on cognitive development

Judith Overfeld; Sonja Entringer; Jerod M. Rasmussen; Christine M. Heim; Martin A. Styner; John H. Gilmore; Pathik D. Wadhwa; Claudia Buss

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience (Oct 2020)

Neonatal hippocampal volume moderates the effects of early postnatal enrichment on cognitive development

Judith Overfeld,
Sonja Entringer,
Jerod M. Rasmussen,
Christine M. Heim,
Martin A. Styner,
John H. Gilmore,
Pathik D. Wadhwa,
Claudia Buss

Affiliations

Judith Overfeld: Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Medical Psychology, Berlin, Germany
Sonja Entringer: Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Medical Psychology, Berlin, Germany; Development, Health, and Disease Research Program, University of California, Irvine, Orange, CA, USA
Jerod M. Rasmussen: Development, Health, and Disease Research Program, University of California, Irvine, Orange, CA, USA
Christine M. Heim: Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Medical Psychology, Berlin, Germany; Department of Biobehavioral Health, College of Health and Human Development, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
Martin A. Styner: Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
John H. Gilmore: Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Pathik D. Wadhwa: Development, Health, and Disease Research Program, University of California, Irvine, Orange, CA, USA; Departments of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Epidemiology, University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, Irvine, CA, USA
Claudia Buss: Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Department of Medical Psychology, Berlin, Germany; Development, Health, and Disease Research Program, University of California, Irvine, Orange, CA, USA; Corresponding author at: Department of Medical Psychology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Luisenstr. 57, 10117 Berlin, Germany.

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 45
p. 100820

Abstract

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Environmental enrichment, particularly during the early life phases of enhanced neuroplasticity, can stimulate cognitive development. However, individuals exhibit considerable variation in their response to environmental enrichment. Recent evidence suggests that certain neurophenotypes such as hippocampal size may index inter-individual differences in sensitivity to environmental conditions. We conducted a prospective, longitudinal investigation in a cohort of 75 mother-child dyads to investigate whether neonatal hippocampal volume moderates the effects of the postnatal environment on cognitive development. Newborn hippocampal volume was quantified shortly after birth (26.2 ± 12.5 days) by structural MRI. Measures of infant environmental enrichment (assessed by the IT-HOME) and cognitive state (assessed by the Bayley-III) were obtained at 6 months of age (6.09 ± 1.43 months). The interaction between neonatal hippocampal volume and enrichment predicted infant cognitive development (b = 0.01, 95 % CI [0.00, 0.02], t = 2.08, p = .04), suggesting that exposure to a stimulating environment had a larger beneficial effect on cognitive outcomes among infants with a larger hippocampus as neonates. Our findings suggest that the effects of the postnatal environment on infant cognitive development are conditioned, in part, upon characteristics of the newborn brain, and that newborn hippocampal volume is a candidate neurophenotype in this context.

Published in Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

ISSN: 1878-9293 (Print); 1878-9307 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: Netherlands
LCC subjects: Science: Physiology: Neurophysiology and neuropsychology
Website: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/developmental-cognitive-neuroscience/

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