Flora Bat-Pitault1, Gianluca Sesso2, Christine Deruelle2, Sophie Flori3, Véronique Porcher-Guinet4, Camille Stagnara5, Aurore Guyon4, Sabine Plancoulaine6, Joëlle Adrien7, David Da Fonseca8, Hugues Patural3, Patricia Franco4. 1. Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, CNRS, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France; Child and Adolescent Psychopathology Unit, Salvator Hospital, Public Assistance-Marseille Hospitals, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France. Electronic address: flora.bat@ap-hm.fr. 2. Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, CNRS, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France. 3. Pediatric and Neonatal Reanimation, Pôle Mère et Enfant, Hôpital Nord, Saint-Etienne, France; EA SNA-EPIS 4607, University Jean Monnet, Saint-Etienne, France. 4. Pediatric Sleep Unit, Hôpital Femme-Mère-Enfant Hospital, University Lyon, Lyon, France; Integrative Physiology of Brain Arousal System, CRNL, INSERM-U1028, CNRS UMR5292, University Lyon, Lyon, France. 5. EA SNA-EPIS 4607, University Jean Monnet, Saint-Etienne, France. 6. INSERM, Epidemiology and Statistics Sorbonne Paris Cité Research Center (CRESS), UMR1153, early Origins of Child Health And Development Team (ORCHAD), F-94807, Villejuif, France; Univ Paris-Descartes, UMRS 1153, F-75004, Paris, France. 7. U975 Inserm/CNRS/UPMC, centre de recherche de l'institut du cerveau et de la moelle épinière, faculté de médecine Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France. 8. Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, CNRS, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France; Child and Adolescent Psychopathology Unit, Salvator Hospital, Public Assistance-Marseille Hospitals, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated sleep architecture in newborn and six-month-old infants who were born to depressed mothers. METHOD: Sixty-four healthy full-term infants (32 males and 32 females) participated in the study. Of these, 32 were high-risk infants who were born to mothers diagnosed with depression, and 32 were low-risk infants born to mothers without a personal history of depression. 24-hour polysomnography was recorded at zero and six months of age (M0 and M6). Sleep macro-structural parameters (total sleep time, TST; awake time; non-rapid eye movement, NREM sleep (%); rapid eye movement, REM sleep %; arousal index; and sleep efficiency) were analysed at M0 and M6. Micro-architectural sleep features (slow-wave activity, SWA; delta sleep ratio, DSR; spindle density; and rapid eye movement density) were calculated at M6. The data between high-risk and low-risk groups were compared using Student's t-tests. RESULTS: At M0 and M6, the high-risk infants showed more awake time and fewer arousals than the low-risk infants. However, the high-risk group had less NREM% at M0 and a shorter TST as well as less REM% at M6 than the low-risk group. At M6, the high-risk group showed higher SWA, higher DSR and lower spindle density in comparison with the low-risk group. CONCLUSIONS: Altered sleep structure was observed during their first months of life in infants born from depressed mothers, thereby suggesting that the prenatal environment could enhance the depression vulnerability of the child and potentially decrease their neuroplasticity.
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated sleep architecture in newborn and six-month-old infants who were born to depressed mothers. METHOD: Sixty-four healthy full-term infants (32 males and 32 females) participated in the study. Of these, 32 were high-risk infants who were born to mothers diagnosed with depression, and 32 were low-risk infants born to mothers without a personal history of depression. 24-hour polysomnography was recorded at zero and six months of age (M0 and M6). Sleep macro-structural parameters (total sleep time, TST; awake time; non-rapid eye movement, NREM sleep (%); rapid eye movement, REM sleep %; arousal index; and sleep efficiency) were analysed at M0 and M6. Micro-architectural sleep features (slow-wave activity, SWA; delta sleep ratio, DSR; spindle density; and rapid eye movement density) were calculated at M6. The data between high-risk and low-risk groups were compared using Student's t-tests. RESULTS: At M0 and M6, the high-risk infants showed more awake time and fewer arousals than the low-risk infants. However, the high-risk group had less NREM% at M0 and a shorter TST as well as less REM% at M6 than the low-risk group. At M6, the high-risk group showed higher SWA, higher DSR and lower spindle density in comparison with the low-risk group. CONCLUSIONS: Altered sleep structure was observed during their first months of life in infants born from depressed mothers, thereby suggesting that the prenatal environment could enhance the depression vulnerability of the child and potentially decrease their neuroplasticity.