Transplacental signals involved in the programming effects of prenatal psychosocial stress on neurodevelopment

Abstract

Exposure to psychosocial stress during pregnancy has been associated with the emergence of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders in offspring. The placenta is known to orchestrate various functions that are essential for normal fetal development, including the brain. It has therefore been postulated that alterations in such functions, and downstream signaling, have the potential to dramatically affect brain developmental trajectories and contribute to adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. This review will focus on discussing various placental functions that have been proposed to be affected by exposure to prenatal psychosocial stress and the implications of such disruptions on long-term neurodevelopmental programming.

Keywords: Neurodevelopment; Placenta; Prenatal stress; Psychosocial stress.