Greater Neighborhood Disadvantage Is Associated with Alterations in Fetal Functional Brain Network Structure.

Objective: To determine the association between neighborhood disadvantage (ND) and functional brain development of in utero fetuses.

Study Design: We conducted an observational study using Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) scores to assess the impact of ND on a prospectively recruited sample of healthy pregnant women from Washington, DC. Using 79 functional magnetic resonance imaging scans from 68 healthy pregnancies at a mean gestational age of 33.

Examining the relationship between fetal cortical thickness, gestational age, and maternal psychological distress.

In utero exposure to maternal stress, anxiety, and depression has been associated with reduced cortical thickness (CT), and CT changes, in turn, to adverse neuropsychiatric outcomes. Here, we investigated global and regional (G/RCT) changes associated with fetal exposure to maternal psychological distress in 265 brain MRI studies from 177 healthy fetuses of low-risk pregnant women. GCT was measured from cortical gray matter (CGM) voxels; RCT was estimated from 82 cortical regions.

Toward a more informative representation of the fetal-neonatal brain connectome using variational autoencoder.

Recent advances in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have helped elucidate previously inaccessible trajectories of early-life prenatal and neonatal brain development. To date, the interpretation of fetal-neonatal fMRI data has relied on linear analytic models, akin to adult neuroimaging data. However, unlike the adult brain, the fetal and newborn brain develops extraordinarily rapidly, far outpacing any other brain development period across the life span.

FetalGAN: Automated Segmentation of Fetal Functional Brain MRI Using Deep Generative Adversarial Learning and Multi-Scale 3D U-Net.

An important step in the preprocessing of resting state functional magnetic resonance images (rs-fMRI) is the separation of brain from non-brain voxels. Widely used imaging tools such as FSL's BET2 and AFNI's 3dSkullStrip accomplish this task effectively in children and adults. In fetal functional brain imaging, however, the presence of maternal tissue around the brain coupled with the non-standard position of the fetal head limit the usefulness of these tools.

Measuring intrauterine growth in healthy pregnancies using quantitative magnetic resonance imaging.

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine in utero fetal-placental growth patterns using in vivo three-dimensional (3D) quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (qMRI).

Study Design: Healthy women with singleton pregnancies underwent fetal MRI to measure fetal body, placenta, and amniotic space volumes. The fetal-placental ratio (FPR) was derived using 3D fetal body and placental volumes (PV).

Association of Prenatal Maternal Anxiety With Fetal Regional Brain Connectivity.

Importance: Maternal psychological distress during pregnancy is associated with adverse obstetric outcomes and neuropsychiatric deficits in children. Currently unavailable in vivo interrogation of fetal brain function could provide critical insights into the onset and timing of altered neurodevelopmental trajectories.

Objective: To investigate the association between prenatal maternal stress, anxiety, and depression and in vivo fetal brain resting state functional connectivity.