Keynote series Dr. Anqi Qiu - How a Mother’s Happiness During Pregnancy Shapes Her Child’s Brain
By Alejandra Lopez-Castro
Pregnancy is a time of profound transformation, not just physically but emotionally, and new research led by Dr. Anqi Qiu and her team reveals how a mother's psychological well-being during this period actively molds her child's developing brain. Published in Nature Mental Health, the study by Dr. Qiu and collaborators demonstrates that mothers experiencing greater positive mental health during pregnancy - characterized by happiness, emotional balance, and life satisfaction - tend to have children with larger hippocampi and stronger neural connectivity, benefits that translate to better cognitive and emotional outcomes.
The research team from Hong Kong Polytechnic University followed over 300 mother-child pairs in a comprehensive longitudinal study spanning pregnancy through early childhood. Using carefully validated psychological assessments administered each trimester, the researchers quantified maternal mental health across multiple dimensions. Years later, when the children were 6-8 years old, Dr. Qiu's team employed advanced neuroimaging techniques to examine brain structure and function. Their sophisticated MRI protocols revealed two key findings: children of mothers with higher prenatal positive mental health had approximately 5-7% larger hippocampal volumes, and showed significantly stronger connectivity in critical brain networks, including the default mode and salience networks.
What makes these findings particularly compelling is how they bridge psychological and neurological domains. The hippocampus, as Dr. Qiu explains, "serves as a crucial hub for memory formation and emotional regulation, and its early development appears particularly sensitive to maternal psychological states." The enhanced connectivity patterns observed in these children suggest more efficient neural communication, particularly in networks governing self-referential thought and emotional processing. These neurological advantages manifested behaviorally in children exhibited better working memory, superior emotional regulation, and fewer behavioral problems compared to peers whose mothers reported lower prenatal well-being.
The study's rigorous methodology sets it apart. The team accounted for numerous potential confounders, including socioeconomic status, postnatal depression, and maternal education. Advanced mediation analyses confirmed that the brain differences statistically explained the relationship between maternal mental health and child outcomes. "Our findings suggest it's not just about reducing stress or depression during pregnancy, but that actively cultivating positive psychological states may confer unique developmental advantages."
Dr. Qiu, whose research focuses on early brain development, emphasizes the translational potential: "This work highlights how supporting maternal mental wellness could be a powerful form of early intervention, potentially optimizing neurodevelopmental trajectories." The findings add to growing evidence that prenatal care should incorporate psychological support, moving beyond traditional biomedical models to embrace holistic approaches that nurture maternal happiness and resilience.
For parents and clinicians alike, this research offers both insight and opportunity, revealing how a mother's emotional world during pregnancy becomes woven into her child's neurological foundation, and how supporting maternal well-being may be one of our most powerful tools for fostering healthier future generations.
Don't miss the interview with Dr. Qiu that you'll find in the blog post. And don't miss the keynote talk this June at the OHBM Annual Meeting 2025
Source
Qiu, A., Shen, C., López-Vicente, M. et al. Maternal positive mental health during pregnancy impacts the hippocampus and functional brain networks in children. Nat. Mental Health 2, 320–327 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s44220-024-00202-8
