THE IMPACT OF MATERNAL CARE ON CHILDREN'S NEURODEVELOPMENT AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13850783Keywords:
epigenetics, neurodevelopment, maternal care, WinnicottAbstract
Introduction: The scenario of child abuse in Brazil is a worrying reality. There is strong evidence from studies carried out over the last few decades that early childhood experiences are fundamental in building the integral health of individuals. Maternal care becomes the "environment" that can significantly interfere with the foundation that underpins child development. Objectives: This study sought to understand how the environment, in terms of maternal care, can impact on children's neurophysiological and psychological development, bringing together the theory of pediatrician and psychoanalyst Donald W. Winnicott (1896 - 1971) with the findings of neuroscience, especially epigenetics. Method: Narrative literature review based on PubMed, Scielo, Google Scholar, books and reports from international organizations. The keywords epigenetics, neurodevelopment and maternal care were used as descriptors. Results: People with a history of maltreatment, abuse or neglect in childhood showed structural alterations such as reduced volume of the hippocampus, corpus callosum and prefrontal cortex, and increased activity and volume of the amygdala. These factors can have a decisive influence on brain development, leading to significant changes in physiological regulatory systems, enabling the development of mental illnesses and disorders throughout life. Conclusions: The results of neuroscience research point to the possible impairment of the physical, mental and psychological health of individuals who suffer abuse and neglect during childhood. Therefore, this study considers the scientific basis of Donald W. Winnicott's theory, which emphasizes the importance of providing children with a caring, stimulating and welcoming environment in early childhood.
Downloads
References
Jiang S, Postovit L, Cattaneo A, Binder EB, Aitchison KJ. Epigenetic modifications in stress response genes associated with childhood trauma. Frontiers in psychiatry. 2019 Nov 8; 10:808.
Colovati VL. Exposições ambientais pré-natal, mecanismos epigenéticos e placentários como resposta e a relação com desfechos de crescimento e neurodesenvolvimento (Doctoral dissertation, Universidade de São Paulo).
Zarei K, Xu G, Zimmerman B, Giannotti M, Strathearn L. Adverse childhood experiences predict common neurodevelopmental and behavioral health conditions among US children. Children. 2021 Aug 31;8(9):761.
Winnicott, D. W. Da pediatria à psicanálise: obras escolhidas / Desenvolvimento emocional primitivo. Rio de Janeiro: F. Alves, 1982.
Winnicott, D. W. Tudo começa em casa. São Paulo, Martins Fontes, 1989.
Winnicott, D. W. Natureza Humana. Rio de Janeiro. Imago, 1990.
Winnicott, D. W. Explorações Psicanalíticas. Porto Alegre: Artes Médicas, 1994.
Winnicott, D. W. Os bebês e suas mães. São Paulo: Martins Fontes, 2006.
Entringer S, Buss C, Heim C. Early-life stress and vulnerability for disease in later life. Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz. 2016 Oct 1;59(10):1255-61.
Gilmore JH, Knickmeyer RC, Gao W. Imaging structural and functional brain development in early childhood. Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 2018 Mar;19(3):123-37.
Sweatt JD, Tamminga CA. An epigenomics approach to individual differences and its translation to neuropsychiatric conditions. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience. 2022 Apr 1.
Ilyka D, Johnson MH, Lloyd-Fox S. Infant social interactions and brain development: A systematic review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 2021 Nov 1; 130:448-69.
Rizvi MB, Conners GP, Rabiner J. New York State child abuse, maltreatment, and neglect.
Cicchetti D, Handley ED. Child maltreatment and the development of substance use and disorder. Neurobiology of stress. 2019 Feb 1; 10:100144.
Berger SL, Kouzarides T, Shiekhattar R, Shilatifard A. An operational definition of epigenetics. Genes & development. 2009 Apr 1;23(7):781-3.
Winnicott, D. W. Da pediatria à psicanálise: obras escolhidas/ Agressão e sua relação com o desenvolvimento emocional. Rio de Janeiro: F. Alves 1982.
Winnicott, D. W. Holding e interpretação. São Paulo, Martins Fontes, 1991.
Winnicott, D. W. O brincar e a realidade. Rio de Janeiro, Imago, 1975.
Zhang L, Lu Q, Chang C. Epigenetics in health and disease. Epigenetics in Allergy and Autoimmunity. 2020:3-55.
Kandel, Eric R. Princípios de Neurociências. 5.a edição. Porto Alegre: Artmed, 2014.
García-Giménez JL, Sanchis-Gomar F, Lippi G, Mena S, Ivars D, Gomez-Cabrera MC, Viña J, Pallardó FV. Epigenetic biomarkers: A new perspective in laboratory diagnostics. Clinica chimica acta. 2012 Oct 9;413(19-20):1576-82.
Junqueira, L. C. & Carneiro J. Biologia Celular e Molecular. 9ª Edição. Editora Guanabara Koogan, 2012.
Alberts et al. Biologia Molecular da Célula. 6 ª edição. Porto Alegre: Artmed, 2017.
Gruber BM, i Biofarmaceutyków ZB. Epigenetyka a etiologia chorób neurodegeneracyjnych Epigenetics and etiology of neurodegenerative diseases. Postepy Hig Med Dosw (online). 2011; 65:542-51.
Kader F, Ghai M, Maharaj L. The effects of DNA methylation on human psychology. Behavioural Brain Research. 2018 Jul 2; 346:47-65.
De Carvalho DD, Sharma S, You JS, Su SF, Taberlay PC, Kelly TK, Yang X, Liang G, Jones PA. DNA methylation screening identifies driver epigenetic events of cancer cell survival. Cancer cell. 2012 May 15;21(5):655-67.
Chiarella J, Tremblay RE, Szyf M, Provençal N, Booij L. Impact of early environment on children's mental health: Lessons from DNA methylation studies with monozygotic twins. Twin Research and Human Genetics. 2015 Dec;18(6):623-34.
Talarowska M. Epigenetic mechanisms in the neurodevelopmental theory of depression. Depression research and treatment. 2020 Apr 24;2020.
Noro G, Gon MC. Epigenética, cuidados maternais e vulnerabilidade ao estresse: conceitos básicos e aplicabilidade. Psicologia: Reflexão e Crítica. 2015 Oct;28: 829-39.
Fundação Abrinq [publicada em 13/04/21], [acesso em 26/02/22]. Disponível em https://www.fadc.org.br.
Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria [publicado em 14/04/21], [acesso em 26/02/2022]. Disponível em http://www.sbp.com.br/imprensa.
Sociedade Brasileira de Pediatria, [publicado em 19/04/2021], [acesso em 26/02/2022]. Disponível em http://www.sbp.com.br/imprensa.
Unicef Brasil [publicado em 22 out 2021], [acesso em 26/02/2022]. Disponível em www.unicef.org/brazil/comunicados-de-imprensa.
PUC Blog Brasil [publicado em 12/09/2016], [acesso em 26/02/2022].
Disponível em www.pucrs.br/blog/brasil.
Teicher, Martin H., and Jacqueline A. Samson. "Childhood maltreatment and psychopathology: A case for ecophenotypic variants as clinically and neurobiologically distinct subtypes. American journal of psychiatry. 2013: 170.10 1114-1133.
Knickmeyer, R. C., Gouttard, S. Kang,C., Evans,D, Wilber, K., Smith, J.K., Gilmore, J.H. A structural MRI study of human brain development from birth to 2 years. Journal of neuroscience, 2008, 28.47: 12176-12182.
Luby, J. L., Barch, D. M., Belden, A., Gaffrey, M. S., Tillman, R., Babb, C., ... & Botteron, K. N. Maternal support in early childhood predicts larger hippocampal volumes at school age. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2012.109(8), 2854-2859.
McEwen, Bruce S. Understanding the potency of stressful early life experiences on brain and body function. Metabolism, 2008, v. 57, p. S11-S15.
Tan, H. K., Goh, S. K., Tsotsi, S., Bruntraeger, M., Chen, H. Y., Broekman, B., ... & Rifkin-Graboi, A. Maternal antenatal anxiety and electrophysiological functioning amongst a sub-set of preschoolers participating in the GUSTO cohort. BMC psychiatry, 2020, 20(1), 1-14.
Jedd K, Hunt RH, Cicchetti D, Hunt E, Cowell RA, Rogosch FA, Toth SL, Thomas KM. Long-term consequences of childhood maltreatment: Altered amygdala functional connectivity. Development and psychopathology. 2015 Nov;27(4pt2):1577-89.
Strathearn L, Giannotti M, Mills R, Kisely S, Najman J, Abajobir A. Long-term cognitive, psychological, and health outcomes associated with child abuse and neglect. Pediatrics. 2020 Oct 1;146(4).
Van Bodegom, Miranda; Homberg, Judith R.; Henckens, Marloes Jag. Modulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis by early life stress exposure. Frontiers in cellular neuroscience, 2017, 11: 87.
Guyton & Hall. Tratado de fisiologia médica. 12a edição. Rio de Janeiro: Elsevier, 2011.
Sly, Peter, Tamara Blake, and Zahir Islam. "Impact of prenatal and early life environmental exposures on normal human development." Paediatric Respiratory Reviews. 2021, 40: 10-14.
Bhutta, Z. A., Berkley, J. A., Bandsma, R. H., Kerac, M., Trehan, I., & Briend, A. Severe childhood malnutrition. Nature reviews Disease primers, 2017. 3(1), 1-18.
Li J, Wang ZN, Chen YP, Dong YP, Shuai HL, Xiao XM, Reichetzeder C, Hocher B. Late gestational maternal serum cortisol is inversely associated with fetal brain growth. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 2012 Mar 1;36(3):1085-92.
Qiu, A., Rifkin-Graboi, A., Chen, H., Chong, Y. S., Kwek, K., Gluckman, P. D., ... & Meaney, M. J. Maternal anxiety and infants' hippocampal development: timing matters. Translational psychiatry. 2013. 3(9), e306-e306.
Carrion, V. G., Weems, C. F., & Reiss, A. L. Stress predicts brain changes in children: a pilot longitudinal study on youth stress, posttraumatic stress disorder, and the hippocampus. Pediatrics. 2007. 119(3), 509-516.
Vythilingam, M., Heim, C., Newport, J., Miller, A. H., Anderson, E., Bronen, R., ... & Bremner, J. D. Childhood trauma associated with smaller hippocampal volume in women with major depression. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2002. 159(12), 2072-2080.
Nestler EJ. Transgenerational epigenetic contributions to stress responses: fact or fiction? PLoS biology. 2016 Mar 25;14(3):e1002426.
Fish EW, Shahrokh D, Bagot R, Caldji C, Bredy T, Szyf M, Meaney MJ. Epigenetic programming of stress responses through variations in maternal care. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2004 Dec;1036(1):167-80.
Arai JA, Feig LA. Long-lasting and transgenerational effects of an environmental enrichment on memory formation. Brain research bulletin. 2011 Apr 25;85(1-2):30-5.
Bottaccioli AG, Bottaccioli F, Minelli A. Stress and the psyche–brain–immune network in psychiatric diseases based on psychoneuroendocrineimmunology: a concise review. Annals of the New York academy of sciences. 2019 Feb;1437(1):31-42.
McEwen BS. In pursuit of resilience: stress, epigenetics, and brain plasticity. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 2016 Jun;1373(1):56-64.
Ding Y, Dai J. Advance in stress for depressive disorder. Depressive Disorders: Mechanisms, Measurement and Management. 2019:147-78.
Juruena MF, Gadelrab R, Cleare AJ, Young AH. Epigenetics: a missing link between early life stress and depression. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry. 2021 Jul 13; 109:110231.
Weaver IC. Epigenetic programming by maternal behavior and pharmacological intervention Nature versus nurture: let's call the whole thing off. Epigenetics. 2007 Jan 10;2(1):22-8.
Benedetti F, Ambree O, Locatelli C, Lorenzi C, Poletti S, Colombo C, Arolt V. The effect of childhood trauma on serum BDNF in bipolar depression is modulated by the serotonin promoter genotype. Neuroscience Letters. 2017 Aug 24; 656:177-81.
Nilsson EE, Sadler-Riggleman I, Skinner MK. Environmentally induced epigenetic transgenerational inheritance of disease. Environmental Epigenetics. 2018 Apr;4(2): dvy 016.
Miguel PM, Pereira LO, Silveira PP, Meaney MJ. Early environmental influences on the development of children's brain structure and function. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology. 2019 Oct;61(10):1127-33.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Maria Regina Bennati Madureira, Alessandra Mussi Ribeiro, Débora Estadella
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright
Submission of originals to Práticas e Cuidado: Revista de Saúde Coletiva (Practices and Care: Journal of Public Health - PC-RESC) implies the transfer of publication rights by the authors. The copyright for manuscripts published in this journal belongs to the authors, with PC-RESC retaining rights over the first publication. The authors may only use the same results in other publications if they explicitly indicate PC-RESC as the original publication medium.
Creative Commons License
Except where otherwise specified, the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License apply to the material published in this journal, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is correctly cited.
This magazine is licensed under a License 