To evaluate the impact of prenatal SSRI exposure on brain development, Dr. Lugo-Candelas and colleagues used structural and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to evaluate the brains of 98 infants.
They included 16 infants with in utero exposure to SSRIs, 21 born to mothers with untreated maternal depression, and 61 healthy control subjects, all evaluated between 2011 and 2016.
Infants exposed to SSRIs in utero had significant (P less than .05) gray matter volume expansion versus controls in both the right amygdala (Cohen’s d, 0.65; 95 %CI, 0.06-1.23) and the right insula (Cohen’s d = 0.86; 95% CI, 0.26-1.14).
The SSRI-exposed infants also had a significant (P less than .05) increase in connectivity between the right amygdala and the right insula versus controls (Cohen’s d, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.40-1.57).