title: Prenatal famine exposure has sex-specific effects on brain size.
abstract: Early nutritional deprivation might cause irreversible damage to the brain. Prenatal exposure to undernutrition has been shown to be associated with increased central nervous system anomalies at birth and decreased cognitive function in adulthood. Little is known about the potential effect on the brain in older age. We investigated brain size and structure at age 68 years after prenatal famine exposure. T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance images of the brain were made in 118 Dutch famine birth cohort members. Of these 118 (44% male, age range 65-69 years), 41 had been exposed to famine in early gestation and 77 had been prenatally unexposed. Structural volumes were automatically assessed using FreeSurfer. Diffusion tensor imaging was performed and anisotropy and diffusivity were computed. Fluid attenuated inversion recovery was performed to assess white matter hyperintensities. Exposure to famine in early gestation was associated with smaller intracranial volume in males, but not females. Volumes of total brain, grey and white matter were also smaller in early exposed males, but these differences disappeared after adjusting for intracranial volume. Prenatally exposed males but not females, had a smaller intracranial and total brain volume compared to unexposed subjects. Our findings show that prenatal undernutrition permanently affected brain size.media-1vid110.1093/brain/aww132_video_abstractaww132_video_abstract.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Academic Medical Centre at the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands s.r.derooij@amc.uva.nl.
authors.forename: Susanne R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: de Rooij
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Radiology, Academic Medical Centre at the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Matthan W A
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Caan
authors.affiliation: 3 Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, an Institute of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Dick F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Swaab
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Radiology, Academic Medical Centre at the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Aart J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Nederveen
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Radiology, Academic Medical Centre at the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Charles B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Majoie
authors.affiliation: 4 Hans Berger Department of Neurology, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schwab
authors.affiliation: 5 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Academic Medical Centre at the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Rebecca C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Painter
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Academic Medical Centre at the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 5 Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Academic Medical Centre at the University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tessa J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Roseboom
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D009929:Organ Size; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D012737:Sex Factors; D013217:Starvation / Q000150:complications*; D047789:World War II
keywords: MRI; brain development; brain size; prenatal undernutrition; sex differences