Table 1.
Neonatal stress and neurobiological systems.
| References | Population | Time of assessment | Sample size (N) | Stress measure | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brain development | |||||
| Brummelte et al. (120) | Infants (born 24–32 weeks) | 32 and 40 weeks | 86 | Number of invasive procedures: early (birth-scan 1) and late (scan 1-scan 2). | Greater invasive procedures: ↓ white matter FA, ↓ subcortical gray matter NAA/choline. Effects dependent on timing stress. |
| Chau et al. (125) | Children (born <32 weeks) | 8 years of age | 57 | Number of invasive procedures during the stay in the NICU | Greater invasive procedures: ↓amygdala volume, ↓ thalamus volume. Stress × COMT ↓ hippocampal subregional volume |
| Doesburg et al. (128) | Children [born extremely preterm [24–28 weeks], very preterm [28–32 weeks], and full-term] | 8 years of age | 54 | Number of invasive procedures during the stay in the NICU | Greater invasive procedures: atypical spontaneous neuromagnetic activity (only in extremely preterm born children) |
| Duerden et al. (123) | Infants [born very preterm [<33 weeks]] | 32 and 40 weeks | 138 | Number of invasive procedures during the stay in the NICU: categorized into two groups | Greater invasive procedures: no association with hippocampal growth |
| Duerden et al. (121) | Infants [born extremely preterm [24–28 weeks] or very preterm [29–32 weeks]] | 32 and 40 weeks | 155 | Number of invasive procedures: early (birth-scan 1) and late (scan 1-scan 2) | Greater invasive procedures: ↓ lateral thalamus volume, ↓ metabolic growth (NAA/Cho), ↓ FA corpus callosum, posterior white matter, cingulum, and fornix. (only in extremely preterm born children in combination with early stress) |
| Kozhemiako et al. (129) | Children [born extremely preterm [24–28 weeks], very preterm [29–32 weeks], and full-term] | 8 years of age | 100 | Number of invasive procedures during the stay in the NICU | Greater invasive procedures: atypical spontaneous neuromagnetic activity (only in extremely preterm born children) |
| Ranger et al. (127) | Children [born very preterm [27–32 weeks]] | 8 years of age. | 42 | Number of invasive procedures during the stay in the NICU | Greater invasive procedures: ↓ cortex thickness (e.g., frontal, parietal, and temporal regions) |
| Ranger et al. (126) | Children [born very preterm [27–32 weeks]] | 8 years of age | 42 | Number of invasive procedures during the stay in the NICU | Greater invasive procedures: ↓ cerebellar volumes |
| Schneider et al. (49) | Infants [born very preterm [<30 weeks]] | 29, 31, and 40 weeks | 51 | Number of invasive procedures during the stay in the NICU | Greater invasive procedures: ↓ growth thalamus, basal ganglia, total brain volumes |
| Smith et al. (119) | Infants [born very preterm [<30 weeks]] | Term equivalent age | 44 | Neonatal Infant Stressor Scale: during stay in the NICU or until term equivalent age | Greater number of stressors: ↓ frontal and parietal diameter, and ↓ interhemispheric connectivity temporal lobes |
| Tortora et al. (122) | Infants [born very preterm [<33 weeks]] | Term equivalent age | 46 | Number of invasive procedures: categorized into four groups | Greater invasive procedures: ↓ connectivity thalami—bilateral somatosensory cortex, ↓ connectivity insular cortex—ipsilateral amygdala/hippocampus |
| Vinall et al. (124) | Children [born very preterm <33 weeks) | 7 years of age | 50 | Number of invasive procedures during the stay in the NICU | Greater number of stressors: ↓ white matter FA |
| ANS function | |||||
| Goffaux et al. (130) | Children [born very preterm [<33 weeks], and full term] | 7–11 years of age | 26 | Total number of days spent in the NICU and total numbers of days spent under mechanical ventilation: categorized into two groups | Greater invasive procedures: no changes in heart rate and pain sensitivity in high-stress group in response to conditioning cold stimulation |
| Grunau et al. (131) | Infants [born very preterm [<33 weeks]] | 32 weeks | 136 | Number of invasive procedures from birth until time of assessment | Greater invasive procedures: ↓ autonomic reactivity in response to blood collection |
| HPA axis function | |||||
| Brummelte et al. (132) | Children [born extremely preterm [<28 weeks], very preterm [<32 weeks], full term] | 7 years of age | 129 | Number of invasive procedures from birth until term equivalent age | Greater invasive procedures: ↓ basal cortisol (study day and at home) |
| Grunau et al. (133) | Infants [born extremely preterm [<28 weeks], very preterm [<33 weeks], and full term] | 8 months | 76 | Number of invasive procedures from birth until term equivalent age | Greater invasive procedures: ↑ sustained basal cortisol (only in extremely preterm born infants) |
| Grunau et al. (134) | Children [born very preterm [<33 weeks] and full term] | 7 years of age | 128 | Number of invasive procedures from birth until term equivalent age | Greater invasive procedures: ↓ hair cortisol (stress × NFKBIA effect, only in boys) |
| Provenzi et al. (135) | Infants [born very preterm [<33 weeks] and full term] | 3 months of age | 90 | Number of invasive procedures during the stay in the NICU | Greater invasive procedures: ↓ cortisol reactivity to still-face procedure |
| Epigenetics | |||||
| Chau et al. (136) | Children [born very preterm [<33 weeks] and full term] | 7 years of age | 111 | Number of invasive procedures during the stay in the NICU | Greater invasive procedures: ↓SLC6A4 methylation (only in children with COMT Met/Met genotype) |
| Fumagalli et al. (137) | Infants [born very preterm [mean of 30 weeks]] | Birth and NICU discharge | 56 | Principal component analysis on number of invasive procedures | Greater invasive procedures: ↑ delta SLC6A4 methylation |
| Montirosso et al. (138) | Infants [born very preterm [<33 weeks] and full term] | Birth and NICU discharge | 78 | NICU stay: difference score between birth and NICU discharge | ↑ delta SLC6A4 methylation at discharge than at birth |
| Provenzi et al. (139) | Infants [born very preterm [<33 weeks] and full term] | Birth and NICU discharge | 88 | Number of invasive procedures during the stay in the NICU: categorized into two groups | Greater invasive procedures: ↑ delta SLC6A4 methylation |
↑ increase(d); ↓ decrease(d).