A biomarker of brain arousal mediates the intergenerational link between maternal and child post-traumatic stress disorder

Article Article scientifique Article A biomarker of brain arousal mediates the intergenerational link between maternal and child post-traumatic stress disorder eng 2024-07-23 2024-09 author Deiber Marie-Pierre Department of Psychiatry, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Psychiatry, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. 130192 Département de psychiatrie (PSYAT) author Pointet Virginie Department of Psychiatry, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. 749474 Virginie Perizzolo author Moser Dominik Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Switzerland; University Service of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Lausanne University Medical Center, Switzerland. 699187 author Vital Nelly Marylene Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Service, University Hospitals of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. 501978 author Rusconi Serpa Sandra Department of Psychiatry, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. 21906 author Ros Tomas 0000-0001-6952-0459 Department of Psychiatry, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Switzerland; CIBM, Center for Biomedical Imaging, Lausanne and Geneva, Switzerland. 771389 Centre d'imagerie bio-médicale (CIBM) author Schechter Daniel University Service of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Lausanne University Medical Center, Switzerland; Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Biology & Medicine, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Grossman School of Medicine, New York University, USA. Electronic address: Daniel.Schechter@chuv.ch. 681362 305-313 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2024.07.034 39067254 0022-3956 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022395624004205 This study examined whether there is a biological basis in the child's resting brain activity for the intergenerational link between maternal interpersonal violence-related posttraumatic stress disorder (IPV-PTSD) and child subclinical symptoms. We used high-density EEG recordings to investigate the resting brain activity in a sample of 57 children, 34 from mothers with IPV-PTSD, and 23 from mothers without PTSD. These children were part of a prospective, longitudinal study focusing on the offspring of mothers with and without IPV-PTSD, reporting how the severity of a mother's IPV-PTSD can impact her child's emotional regulation and risk for developing mental illness. However, we had not yet looked into potential EEG biomarkers during resting state that might mediate and/or moderate effects of maternal IPV-PTSD severity on child mental health, and in particular the risk for PTSD. The alpha band spectral power as well as the aperiodic exponent of the power spectrum (PLE; power-law exponent) were examined as mediators of maternal IPV-PTSD and child PTSD. While there was no difference in alpha spectral power between the two groups, PLE was significantly reduced in children of mothers with IPV-PTSD compared to control children, indicating cortical hyper-arousal. Interestingly, child PLE was negatively correlated with the severity of maternal IPV-PTSD, suggesting an intergenerational interaction. This interpretation was reinforced by a negative correlation between child PLE and child PTSD symptoms. Finally, causal analyses using structural equation modelling indicated that child PLE mediated the relationship between maternal PTSD severity and child PTSD. Our observations suggest that maternal IPV-PTSD has an intergenerational impact on the child neurobehavioral development through a correlated abnormal marker of brain arousal (i.e. child PLE). These findings are potentially relevant to psychotherapy research and to the development of more effective psycho-neurobehavioral therapies (i.e. neurofeedback) among affected individuals. Aperiodic slope Intergenerational Maternal PTSD Neurodevelopment Resting EEG Spectral power Dewey 616.8 Dewey 616.89 Dewey 618 Swiss National Science Foundation NCCR SYNAPSY: The synaptic bases of mental diseases (phase I) 125759 CH Programmes 61 Département des neurosciences cliniques 226 60 Département de psychiatrie 225 58 Département de pédiatrie, gynécologie et obstétrique 223 false 1279 Epilepsie et réseaux cérébraux 1002 523 CIBM 863 1284 NCCR Synapsy Journal of psychiatric research 177 2892fb13-bd1e-498a-aec8-ccb791a21da7 Article (Published version) Public biomar.pdf 1243064 application/pdf CC BY-4.0 129ad6d5156c4433919175dc8fa3bda546c0554252df57bfce9ae1d75cdd198d d648c54f-3b55-4e50-92e6-bd754950ce3b Supplemental data Public 1-s2.0-S0022395624004205-mmc1.docx 69853 application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document 155094c7645d21b2a3a3b9796b9ef4f280237649bc00ce2e6170f38fea7ee277 openAccess Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine clinique / Département des neurosciences cliniques Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine clinique / Département de psychiatrie Faculté de médecine / Section de médecine clinique / Département de pédiatrie, gynécologie et obstétrique

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A biomarker of brain arousal mediates the intergenerational link between maternal and child post-traumatic stress disorder	Journal of psychiatric research			2024	59	203

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