Published April 4, 2022 | Version v1
Journal article Open

Maternal Psychological Distress during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Structural Changes of the Human Fetal Brain

Description

We investigated whether the mental health of pregnant mothers influenced the brain development of their fetuses during the COVID-19 pandemic. We imaged the brains of fetuses before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and asked the mothers questions about any distress experienced during pregnancy. We found increased maternal stress and depression in women pregnant during the pandemic compared to those pregnant before the pandemic. The volume of some areas of the fetal brain decreased and there was a delay in the development of the brain folds in the fetuses of the distressed mothers.

The Matlab codes are used to calculate brain cortical gyrification, including surface area, local gyrification index, and sulcal depth.

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