Grant: Operating Grant

A mother's mood disorder during pregnancy, and the antidepressant medicines she is given to treat it, appears to have effects on the baby's developing brain in ways that may affect behaviour in childhood. The reasons why some, but not all, children are affected remains unclear. To study this problem, since 2002, we have followed a group of mothers and children (n= 170), both exposed and not exposed to a medicine called serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SRIs). One of our findings is that anxiety is greater in children at ages 3 and 6 years if their mother took SRIs during pregnancy than if she did not. These children are now aged 9-14 years, and we would like to know if the anxiety difference persists, and if the 'SRI exposed' children have different responses a perceived threat. We believe that our work will help us to understand more about very specific areas of early brain development that shape child behavior. Our findings should lead to improved health of these children and their mothers.