The Neurodevelopmental Impact of Prenatal Bacterial Infection on Adult Psychosis: Evidence from the New England Family Study

Lee, Heather Young-A

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Year:: 2019
Contributor:: Lee, Heather Young-A (creator); Buka, Stephen (Advisor); Papandonatos, George (Reader); Savitz, David (Reader); Brown University. Department of Epidemiology (sponsor)
Genre:: theses
Subject:: causal inference; Magnetic resonance imaging; Birth cohort; neurodevelopment; Collaborative Perinatal Project (U.S.); New England Family Study; Schizophrenia--Etiology; Bacterial diseases; Psychoses; Mental illness--Etiology; prenatal infection; Pregnant women
Extent:: 15, 115 p.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26300/xj2g-v595

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Abstract:: Across studies that use household-based survey samples, clinical diagnostic interviews, and medical records, estimates of the life-time prevalence of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders in the U.S. range are approximately 3%. Despite their relatively low prevalence, psychotic disorders are associated with significant health, social, and economic burden. Psychotic illnesses are often viewed from a developmental perspective. In its simplest form, this model postulates that genes involved in neurodevelopment and environmental insults in early life lead to disruptions in brain development, which in turn predisposes to the later onset of psychosis. This perspective fuels the hope that early interventions will improve or prevent the course of psychotic disorders which are often severely disabling if left untreated. Among a very limited number of potentially modifiable risk factors for psychotic disorders, maternal infection during pregnancy has been repeatedly associated with increased risk for schizophrenia. Bacterial infections are particularly prevalent as a result of physiological changes and immune suppression during pregnancy, yet they are often left untreated in antenatal care settings due to their lack of apparent symptoms. However, such infections can pose a significant threat to pregnancy and healthy fetal development. Moreover, they may lead to severe neurodevelopmental consequences—such as mental retardation. Despite a plethora of research on the immediate impact of gestational bacterial infection on perinatal health, long-term neuropsychiatric consequences remain unclear. This dissertation uses interdisciplinary research methods in epidemiology, immunology, and neuroimaging to characterize the effects of prenatal bacterial infection on the development of psychosis in adulthood. This specific knowledge would help fill gaps in the current understanding of the way in which bacterial infection during pregnancy increases offspring’s risk for cognitive impairments in childhood as well as psychotic illnesses in adulthood. Furthermore, interventions aimed at preventing prenatal acquisition of bacterial infection and decreasing its severity may serve to lower the burden of psychosis in the United States and across the world. Such interventions may also aid in disrupting the transmission of social disparities in these neurodevelopmental disorders across generations if they target families experiencing greater socioeconomic disadvantages and thus having an increased risk for contracting infections during pregnancy.
Notes:: Thesis (Ph. D.)--Brown University, 2019

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Rights: In Copyright
Restrictions on Use: Collection is open for research.

Citation

Lee, Heather Young-A, "The Neurodevelopmental Impact of Prenatal Bacterial Infection on Adult Psychosis: Evidence from the New England Family Study" (2019). Epidemiology Theses and Dissertations. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://doi.org/10.26300/xj2g-v595

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Epidemiology Theses and Dissertations

Theses and Dissertations for the Epidemiology department.
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