How stressors during pregnancy impact the developing fetal brain

New findings provide a cell atlas, mapping out the neuroimmune landscape

2026-01-06

(Press-News.org) The maternal microbiome and immune system have both independent and synergistic effects on fetal brain health - changes in the mother’s immune system have been linked to an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders in children. A new study, published today in Nature Neuroscience, expands our understanding of this “gut-immune axis” by mapping the impact of stressors during pregnancy – namely changes in the microbiome and activation of the immune system - on the neuroimmune landscape of the developing fetal brain.

The research team, led by Brian Kalish, MD, Physician in Medicine in the Division of Newborn Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital, discovered notable sex-specific responses, including vulnerability for a specific immune pathway in the male brain that could be a potential target for early intervention.

“Our study establishes a detailed spatial transcriptomic resource of immune gene networks during a critical window of embryonic brain development,” says Kalish. “Unlike previous atlases focused on the adult brain, our dataset captures dynamic immune signaling interactions at a stage when the brain is highly vulnerable.”

The team integrated in situ spatial transcriptomics (MERFISH) with single cell RNA-seq data. This dual-modality approach enabled them to (1) create a developmental cell atlas of immune gene expression in the embryonic mouse brain during mid- and late-gestation; (2) map the spatial location of neurodevelopmental-relevant genes in the developing brain; (3) reveal sex-specific responses of the developing brain to maternal gut-immune disruptions; (4) nominate a specific pathway – known as the CXCL12/CXCR7 signaling pathway - as an important mediator of abnormal neural differentiation.

“As a neonatologist, this work adds to our understanding early-life environmental factors that may impact neurodevelopmental potential and lends insights for potential interventions”, added Kalish.

END

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Electrons lag behind the nucleus

2026-01-06

One of the great successes of 20th-century physics was the quantum mechanical description of solids. This allowed scientists to understand for the first time how and why certain materials conduct electric current and how these properties could be purposefully modified. For instance, semiconductors such as silicon could be used to produce transistors, which revolutionized electronics and made modern computers possible. To be able to mathematically capture the complex interplay between electrons and atomic nuclei and their motions in a solid, physicists ...

From fungi to brain cells: one scientist's winding path reveals how epigenomics shapes neural destiny

2026-01-06

LA JOLLA, California, USA, 6 January 2026 -- In a revealing Genomic Press Interview published today in Genomic Psychiatry, Dr. Maria Margarita Behrens recounts an extraordinary scientific journey that wound through four countries and multiple disciplines before arriving at fundamental questions about how the brain develops and what goes wrong in psychiatric disorders. Her work now stands at the forefront of international efforts to decode the molecular signatures that define every cell type in the human brain. Dr. Behrens serves as a faculty member in the Computational Neurobiology Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and holds ...

Schizophrenia and osteoporosis share 195 genetic loci, highlighting unexpected biological bridges between brain and bone

2026-01-06

TIANJIN, CHINA, 6 January 2026 -- A comprehensive genetic investigation led by Dr. Feng Liu at Tianjin Medical University General Hospital has uncovered striking molecular connections between schizophrenia and bone health, identifying 195 shared genetic loci that may explain why psychiatric patients face elevated fracture risks. The peer-reviewed research, published in Genomic Psychiatry, analyzed genomic data from over half a million individuals and reveals that these two seemingly unrelated conditions suggest overlapping biological pathways at the molecular level. The finding carries immediate clinical weight. Patients with schizophrenia experience osteoporosis at rates far ...

Schizophrenia-linked genetic variant renders key brain receptor completely unresponsive to both natural and therapeutic compounds

2026-01-06

ADELAIDE, South Australia, AUSTRALIA, 6 January 2026 -- A genetic mutation passed from mother to children in families affected by schizophrenia has now been shown to completely silence a brain receptor that pharmaceutical companies are racing to target with new drugs. Researchers at Flinders University, publishing their peer-reviewed findings in Genomic Psychiatry, demonstrate that this single amino acid change transforms the trace amine-associated receptor 1 (TAAR1) from a functioning cellular gatekeeper into a molecular dead end. The discovery carries weight far beyond basic science. Several drug companies have invested heavily in TAAR1-targeting medications, ...

Innovative review reveals overlooked complexity in cellular energy sensor's dual roles in Alzheimer's disease

2026-01-06

WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina, USA, 6 January 2026 -- A comprehensive mini-review published today after peer review in Brain Medicine by Dr. Tao Ma and colleagues at Wake Forest University School of Medicine synthesizes emerging evidence that two isoforms of a critical cellular energy sensor play distinct, and sometimes opposing, roles in Alzheimer's disease. The analysis proposes that this overlooked complexity may explain why pharmacological approaches targeting AMP-activated protein kinase have yielded frustratingly mixed results in treating the disease that ...

Autism research reframed: Why heterogeneity is the data, not the noise

2026-01-06

KODAIRA, Tokyo, JAPAN, 6 January 2026 -- In a revealing Genomic Press Interview published today in Genomic Psychiatry, Dr. Noritaka Ichinohe challenges a foundational assumption that has quietly constrained psychiatric research for decades: the belief that meaningful explanation requires averaging away individual differences. His three decades of translational neuroscience across Japanese research institutions have instead demonstrated that biological heterogeneity, far from being statistical noise to eliminate, constitutes the very phenomenon demanding ...

Brazil's genetic treasure trove: supercentenarians reveal secrets of extreme human longevity

2026-01-06

SÃO PAULO, SP, BRAZIL, 6 January 2026 -- A Viewpoint published today in Genomic Psychiatry by Dr. Mayana Zatz and colleagues at the Human Genome and Stem Cell Research Center, University of São Paulo, examines why Brazil represents one of the most valuable yet underutilized resources for understanding extreme human longevity. The synthesis draws upon the team's ongoing research with a nationwide cohort of long-lived individuals while contextualizing recent advances in supercentenarian biology. Where Genetic Diversity Meets Exceptional Aging Why do some humans live ...

The (metabolic) cost of life

2026-01-06

There are “costs of life” that mechanical physics cannot calculate. A clear example is the energy required to keep specific biochemical processes active — such as those that make up photosynthesis, although the examples are countless — while preventing alternative processes from occurring. In mechanics, no displacement implies zero work, and, put simply, there is no energetic cost for keeping things from happening. Yet careful stochastic thermodynamic calculations show that these costs do exist — and they are often quite significant. A ...

CFRI special issue call for papers: New Frontiers in Sustainable Finance

2026-01-06

China Finance Review International (CFRI) has announced a call for papers for a forthcoming special issue titled “New Frontiers in Sustainable Finance,” inviting original research that examines the growing role of sustainability in financial markets, corporate decision-making, and regulatory frameworks. The special issue aims to capture recent advances in sustainable finance as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations become increasingly central to the global ...

HKU Engineering scholar demonstrates the smallest all-printed infrared photodetectors to date

2026-01-06

A research team led by Professor Leo Tianshuo Zhao from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, University of Hong Kong (HKU), has developed the world’s smallest fully printed infrared photodetectors, which are an innovative room-temperature nano-printing platform that overcomes the limitations of traditional silicon-based technology. Near-infrared (NIR) technology is essential for applications such as autonomous systems, biomedical sensing, and high-speed optical communications. However, conventional silicon-based CMOS technology cannot directly detect NIR wavelengths. Current solutions ...

The Lancet Global Health: Modelling suggests climate change could drive millions globally into physical inactivity by 2050 and be linked to an estimated half a million premature deaths

How stressors during pregnancy impact the developing fetal brain

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: