Background Animal experiments suggest that maternal stress and anxiety during
pregnancy have long-term effects on the behavior^ of the offspring.^ Aims to test the
hypothesis that antenatal maternal anxiety predicts behavioural problems at age 4
years.^ Method Data were collected on multiple antenatal and postnatal assessments
of maternal anxiety and depression, antenatal and^ obstetric risks, psychosocial risks
and children's behavioral/emotional^ problems ( n =7448).^ Results Antenatal maternal
anxiety predicted behavioral/emotional problems in boys (OR=2.14, 95% CI 1.48-3.10)
and girls (OR=1.88,^ 95% CI 1.3-2.69) after accounting for covariates. When covarying^
maternal anxiety up to 33 months postnatally, antenatal anxiety^ continued to predict
total problems in boys (OR=1.56, 95% CI^ 1.02-2.41) and girls (OR=1.51, 95% CI 1.22-
2.81).^
Conclusions: There could be a direct effect of maternal mood^ on foetal brain
development, which affects the behavioral^ development of the child.^
[Author’s Note: This article has been quoted in over 30 Major Medical Journals - OZ]
___
The Human Brain: The Structural Basis for Understanding Human Brain Function
and Dysfunction
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, ROME, IRCCS SANTA LUCIA Oct. 5-10, 2002
MAN AND WOMEN: SEXUAL BEHAVIOR AND THE BRAIN
Most people have a clear idea about how
men and women are different. Most
obvious differences are related to the way
we are built and the way we behave from
birth. For example, newly born girls are
more sensitive to touch, noise, pain, verbal
emotion and discomfort than boys. Boys
are more active and occupy more space on
the playground. The infant sexual
segregation "picks" by the age of four when boys and girls usually start to play apart.
With age this attitude changes but behavioral differences only become more apparent
and numerous. For example, ever intriguing differences in sexual behavior, play and
social behavior, learning and gender role behavior, posture during urination, scent-
marking behavior, vocalization, food and water intake. It is only reasonable to assume
that behavioral differences are consistent with differences in organization and
function of the relevant brain circuitry.