Association of Infant Frontal EEG Asymmetry with prenatal maternal pregnancy-related anxiety

Abstract

High levels of anxiety during pregnancy are associated with behaviour problems and increased risk of health difficulties in the offspring. Understanding how prenatal anxiety affects brain structure and function may help clarify its potential implications in neurodevelopment. Frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) alpha asymmetry has been used as an index for differences in approach/withdrawal tendencies and negative affect after birth. The data for this master thesis was collected from a sub-sample (n=105) of the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study. The aim was to investigate the associations between frontal EEG asymmetry in newborns and prenatal maternal anxiety levels, measured with the Pregnancy-Related Anxiety Questionnaire (PRAQ-R2), during pregnancy. No significant associations were found between asymmetry scores and PRAQ-R2. Since this questionnaire measures only pregnancy-related anxiety, future studies should investigate potential effects of maternal prenatal anxiety in newborns considering more general aspects of maternal anxiety.