Sponsors
- National Institutes of Health
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American Diabetes Association:
Pathway Accelerator Award
Neural Mechanisms in Maternal-Fetal Programming for Obesity and Diabetes (DK116858)
BrainChild looks at the risks for diabetes and obesity in children whose mothers had diabetes during pregnancy. We hope to learn about how being exposed to diabetes in utero may affect risk for diabetes and obesity in children. We compare the risks for these conditions between children whose mothers had diabetes during pregnancy and those who did not have diabetes during pregnancy. We are particularly interested in examining behavior and brain development in children whose mothers had gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).
Related Studies
The effects of in utero exposure to gestational diabetes on hippocampal structure and function (F31)
Previous animal studies have found that offspring born to mothers with gestational diabetes perform worse on memory tasks and have reduced volume of neurons (the cells in the brain) in parts of the hippocampus. Therefore, the goal of this project is to investigate the impact of gestational diabetes on child memory performance and hippocampal brain structure.
Principle Investigator: Jasmin Alves (doctoral candidate)
Mentor: Kathleen Page, MD
Neural Mechanisms of Overeating Among Children Exposed to Gestational Diabetes Mellitus In Utero (Ko1)
The primary goal of this project is to examine functional and structural connectivity within brain regions involved in food intake among children exposed to gestational diabetes in utero.
Principle Investigator: Shan Luo, PhD
Mentors: Kathleen Page, MD & Paul Thompson, PhD
featured presentations
Prenatal and Lifestyle Contributions to Child Insulin Sensitivity
- Time spent in moderate to vigorous physical activity was the strongest predictor of child insulin sensitivity, compared to prenatal exposure to maternal obesity and/or GDM, and daily energy intake.
- Our findings suggest, engaging in moderate to vigorous physical activity during childhood is beneficial for insulin sensitivity and may ameliorate future risk for metabolic disease.
Smaller food cue reactivity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex predicts future weight gain in children
- Children who show hypo-activation in the dlPFC during observation of appetitive food cues may be at increased risk for weight gain.
- The dlPFC may play an important role in top down regulation of eating behavior.
Exploring the relationship between sleep and insulin sensitivity in children born to mothers with gestational diabetes
These data indicate that more sleep may be associated with increased insulin sensitivity in children. This is an important association to continue studying given the role sleep may play as a prescriptive factor in delaying or avoiding T2D in children at high risk for T2D.
Featured Publications
Jasmin M. Alves, Alexandra G. Yunker, A DeFendis, Anny H. Xiang, Kathleen A. Page. Prenatal Exposure to Gestational Diabetes is Associated with Anxiety and Physical Inactivity in Children During COVID-19. Clinical Obesity. November 2020: e12422.
Jasmin M. Alves, Jennifer Zink, Ting Chow, Shan Luo, Britni R. Belcher, Anny H. Xiang, Kathleen A. Page. Contributions of Prenatal Exposures and Child Lifestyle to Insulin Sensitivity. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. 2020 April.
Kristi A. Clark, Jasmin M. Alves, Sabrina Jones, Alexandra G. Yunker, Shan Luo, Ryan P. Cabeen, Brendan Angelo, Anny H. Xiang, Kathleen A. Page. Dietary Fructose Intake and Hippocampal Structure and Connectivity during Childhood. Nutrients 2020, 12, 909.
Jasmin Alves, Shan Luo, Ting Chow, Megan Herting, Anny Xiang, Kathleen A. Page. Sex differences in the association between prenatal exposure to maternal obesity and hippocampal volume in children. Brain and Behavior. 2020 Jan; 10e:01522.
Kathleen Page, Shan Luo, Xinhui Wang, Ting Chow, Jasmin Alves, Thomas Buchanan, Anny Xiang. Children Exposed to Maternal Obesity or Gestational Diabetes Mellitus During Early Fetal Development Have Hypothalamic Alterations That Predict Future Weight Gain. Diabetes Care. 2019 Aug; 42(8):1473-1480
Luo S, Alves J, Hardy K, Wang X, Monterosso J, Xiang AH, Page KA. Neural processing of food cues in pre-pubertal children. Pediatric Obesity. 2018 July; 14(2)
Page KA. Mother’s inflammation shapes baby’s brain. Science Translational Medicine. 2018 May 02; 10(439)
Page KA , Romero, A, Buchanan, TA, Xiang, AH. Gestational diabetes mellitus, maternal obesity, and adiposity in offspring. J Pediatr. 2014 Apr;164(4):807-1013. doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2013.11.063. Epub 2013 Dec 31. PMID: 24388326