PhD defence R. (Runyu) Zou

Proposed by David Barker and his colleagues, the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis suggests that early life, mostly prenatal, events can influence human physiology and development on a long term. Although the initial and dominant conditions of interest of DOHaD were cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, emerging evidence has linked prenatal adversities, such as maternal depression and malnutrition, to cognitive and neuropsychiatric consequences in children and adolescents. However, the effect of prenatal exposure on brain development, which may underlie the observed neurodevelopmental outcomes, has been investigated to a much less extend. This is an interesting and important topic given the rapid growth of the human brain in fetal life.
Embedded in the prospective population-based Generation R Study, this thesis aimed to investigate various prenatal exposures, including parental mental health and maternal nutrients such as vitamin D, folate, and fatty acids, in relation to brain morphology and white matter microstructure in childhood using modern epidemiological methods, longitudinal data modellings, and neuroimaging techniques. We found that intrauterine exposure to adversities such as maternal depression, and low levels of vitamin D, folate, and polyunsaturated fatty acids was associated with reduced global and regional brain volumes as well as altered cortical traits in childhood. In addition, we found evidence suggesting that the differences in brain morphology explains child cognitive and neuropsychiatric outcomes. Our findings emphasize the importance of ideal maternal mental health and nutritional status in terms of brain development of the offspring.

Due to corona, the PhD defences do not take place publicly in the usual way in the Senate Hall or in the Professor Andries Querido Room. The candidates will defend their dissertation either in a small group or online.