Skip to Main Content

Child Study Center Grand Rounds 09.21.2021

October 29, 2021
  • 02:24Hey Jonathan, can you hear us? Let
  • 02:28me introduce you to two
  • 02:29people you've never seen.
  • 02:30One is Doctor Jayme Mcpartland.
  • 02:32Dr Taking what do you want to
  • 02:33start talking with our speaker?
  • 02:34We haven't let people into the room yet.
  • 02:39Hey Jonathan, do you want to have a really
  • 02:41publicly broadcast ketchup session?
  • 02:45Sounds great. Good, you know.
  • 02:50I had to admit I didn't notice
  • 02:52telling your side just now.
  • 02:53By the way, Jamie, Jamie eye contact.
  • 02:57Yeah, that's correct.
  • 02:58I didn't notice it.
  • 02:59Said Duke University is that yeah.
  • 03:02I mean he he doesn't know in autism.
  • 03:04We don't make eye contact.
  • 03:06Normally developing people would make typing.
  • 03:08Yeah, I know,
  • 03:09but as an autism eye contact specialist,
  • 03:11we've ruled that eye contact being
  • 03:13meaningful during zoom settings.
  • 03:15So it's like saying I mean,
  • 03:16in fact I can communicate
  • 03:18effectively like this.
  • 03:19And then when it's time,
  • 03:20so when did you make the move?
  • 03:23September 1st, so
  • 03:24it's brand new. Congratulations
  • 03:26very exciting. Are you physically there? Yeah
  • 03:29yeah yeah I came down with my
  • 03:31family over the summer so we could
  • 03:33get our kids set up at school.
  • 03:36Yeah yeah thanks yeah.
  • 03:38And I'm I'm really excited about being here.
  • 03:39It's been really great so far
  • 03:41that is is really yeah I
  • 03:43want to hear all about it.
  • 03:44Yeah for sure not broadcasting
  • 03:46to the entire Child Study Center,
  • 03:49right? How are your kids doing?
  • 03:52I'm good that great school is in person.
  • 03:56They're happy, started high school in,
  • 03:58started high school this year.
  • 03:59So so far, so good. Now you did you.
  • 04:02Are you still on CPD? Yes I am I
  • 04:05I'm done. I
  • 04:06know you graduated. You will be.
  • 04:08You will be greatly missed.
  • 04:12I will enjoy the break but
  • 04:13I will miss it too, yeah.
  • 04:16Oh, you're you finished up.
  • 04:20You were you were on the Zoom study
  • 04:22section for one or two sessions.
  • 04:24Is that right? Yeah, yeah.
  • 04:26For the time being, we're continuing on
  • 04:28zoom, which is, I find, a bit painful.
  • 04:31It is it makes for a very long day.
  • 04:33Yeah, yeah, I thought you're gonna
  • 04:36say my timing was good because they
  • 04:37did away with continuous submission.
  • 04:39So I actually meant to thread
  • 04:40the needle in terms of period
  • 04:42of time for continuous submission.
  • 04:46I I didn't know that they got
  • 04:47rid of continuous emission.
  • 04:48If I if I'm not mistaken,
  • 04:50I thought they changed the policy.
  • 04:53OK, I didn't really thought. But
  • 04:55now I'm going to inquire about some protocol.
  • 04:58So what Andres, what's the what's
  • 04:59the is when we want to start?
  • 05:14Where's your schooling?
  • 05:47Kids.
  • 05:54The people.
  • 05:57They can only hear it.
  • 06:04Sure.
  • 06:06Remember the test. Unless.
  • 06:22OK, silly.
  • 06:25Epic.
  • 06:28And I can see your cat.
  • 06:31Do you want me to start letting people in?
  • 06:36While he's talking just because,
  • 06:38well, who is wow? Yeah,
  • 06:43just because critics are perfect
  • 06:45is over there with translating,
  • 06:47but right now we're going
  • 06:48to start with it. Yes, OK?
  • 06:54Yeah, it's.
  • 07:05Very sophisticated plan for managing
  • 07:07your question and answer session.
  • 07:09I promised that I will screw it
  • 07:11up and so I apologize in advance.
  • 07:15Make room for Kyle.
  • 07:19Sharp
  • 07:22so did people type their questions
  • 07:24into the chat function today?
  • 07:26They will get to ask and they will
  • 07:29be able to ask in person. Yeah.
  • 07:40That's.
  • 07:44Rights. Oh, because I asked.
  • 08:02Introduction.
  • 08:22Yes.
  • 08:35I think we're good. Well,
  • 08:37everyone. Welcome to today's grand rounds.
  • 08:41My name is Mike Crowley.
  • 08:42I'm a member of our Grand rounds committee.
  • 08:44Last week we heard from Carol,
  • 08:46I just want to remind everyone
  • 08:48before I introduce Dr.
  • 08:50Mcpartland that I that we have
  • 08:52compassionate care grand rounds next
  • 08:53week and the title of that grand
  • 08:55rounds is refractory providers and
  • 08:57systems come together to care for a
  • 08:59severely depressed and suicidal youth.
  • 09:01So out further ado.
  • 09:02Doctor mcpartlin.
  • 09:08Hey welcome everyone.
  • 09:09Today it's my pleasure to introduce Doctor.
  • 09:13Jonathan Posner is a child and
  • 09:16adolescent psychiatrist and
  • 09:17vice chair for research in the
  • 09:19Department of Psychiatry at Duke,
  • 09:20which is news hot off the
  • 09:23presses as of September 1st.
  • 09:25He directs pediatric brain imaging
  • 09:28laboratory that has maintained
  • 09:29consistent NIH funding since
  • 09:31founding over ten years ago.
  • 09:32His research focuses on neuro
  • 09:34development with an emphasis on
  • 09:35imaging approaches to studying
  • 09:37neurobiological correlates of mental.
  • 09:39Illness and cognitive development
  • 09:42is Pi on 312 N family based
  • 09:45studies aimed at understanding
  • 09:46the influence of family history.
  • 09:48Psychosocial adversity in prenatal
  • 09:49exposures on the development of neural
  • 09:51circuits involved in executive functions.
  • 09:53In emotion regulation.
  • 09:55You know, having reviewed the CD,
  • 09:56he's a piece of many,
  • 09:58many more grants than that he's an
  • 10:00extremely productive researcher.
  • 10:01His work has been published in leading
  • 10:03journals including JAMA Psychiatry,
  • 10:05John Pediatrics, Pediatrics,
  • 10:06Lance Psychiatry in The Lancet.
  • 10:08He's a.
  • 10:09A very engaged mentor and educator and has
  • 10:12served mentor to many new junior faculty,
  • 10:14postdocs,
  • 10:15and psychic residents who've done well.
  • 10:19Came to know,
  • 10:19gentlemen,
  • 10:20through our mutual serving on
  • 10:22a study section,
  • 10:23childhood safe theology and
  • 10:25developmental disorders,
  • 10:26and one of the things that I
  • 10:28recognized by Jonathan isn't in
  • 10:30addition to having deep technical
  • 10:32knowledge of his methods.
  • 10:33He also has very strong clinical
  • 10:36sense and is extremely thoughtful.
  • 10:38And so I'm really looking forward to
  • 10:39hearing what he has to say because
  • 10:41I I think it's gonna actually
  • 10:42even be more rewarding with his
  • 10:45comments during study section.
  • 10:46If you can believe it or not,
  • 10:47and he's going to be talking about.
  • 10:49Kind of depression and
  • 10:50antidepressant exposure,
  • 10:51and how that influences
  • 10:53neurodevelopmental trajectories.
  • 10:54Thank you so much,
  • 10:55Jonathan.
  • 10:57Thank you so much Jamie. UM,
  • 10:59really appreciate that introduction.
  • 11:02And I just wanted to mention that it's a.
  • 11:04It's such an honor to be
  • 11:06presenting to you all as a child,
  • 11:08not a lesson psychiatrist I I never did any
  • 11:11of my own training at at Yale Child study,
  • 11:15but so many of the the mentors
  • 11:17who taught me so much about child
  • 11:19psychiatry all grew up at Yale,
  • 11:21so the Child Study Center is
  • 11:23always loom very large in my mind,
  • 11:25so the real treat to be
  • 11:27presenting to you all today.
  • 11:29Uhm, so I'm going to be talking
  • 11:32today about the safety of
  • 11:36antidepressant use during pregnancy.
  • 11:39And specifically the use
  • 11:41of SSRI antidepressants.
  • 11:43Uhm, and this is a topic that I
  • 11:45I really find quite interesting
  • 11:48because on the one hand it's it's
  • 11:51a question that we want very,
  • 11:52very badly to know the answer to.
  • 11:54We want to know whether we can
  • 11:57safely prescribe these medications.
  • 11:58And yet we are somewhat hamstrung in
  • 12:00how we how we approach this question,
  • 12:03because the most rigorous methodology
  • 12:05that we would have to answer this would
  • 12:09be a randomized clinical trial and for both.
  • 12:13Uh,
  • 12:13and pragmatic regions.
  • 12:15It would be very,
  • 12:16very difficult to to use that methodology,
  • 12:19so we're left in this situation
  • 12:21where we want a definitive answer.
  • 12:23And yet our our approach is somewhat limited.
  • 12:26I'm going to be talking to you today
  • 12:28about how we're trying to tackle this
  • 12:30problem in lieu of those limitations.
  • 12:36Uh, so some some disclosures to mention.
  • 12:39So I have received research support
  • 12:42from Shire which is now part of the
  • 12:45Cada Avino mix and Innovation sciences.
  • 12:48But none of that research support
  • 12:51was related to the data that I'm
  • 12:53gonna be presenting to you all today.
  • 12:56Uhm, so uh before getting started,
  • 12:59uhm, I first wanted to discuss two
  • 13:04foundational concepts that really guide my.
  • 13:08And the first is the
  • 13:11centrality of development,
  • 13:13and I was essentially axiomatic that most,
  • 13:17if not all mental illness.
  • 13:21Has it had development to origins
  • 13:23or or to put that another way
  • 13:27that I think if we really want to
  • 13:29understand the etiology of psych.
  • 13:32We have to understand development,
  • 13:34but development is of course difficult.
  • 13:38Not only now are we are we trying
  • 13:41to understand this incredibly
  • 13:43complex organ in the human brain,
  • 13:46but when we take a developmental perspective,
  • 13:49we're now chasing after a moving target.
  • 13:52As the brand grows and matures.
  • 13:57The second principle that guides
  • 13:59my work is the importance of.
  • 14:01It's all of our approaches to
  • 14:03understanding the brain and
  • 14:05mental illness have limitations.
  • 14:08Whether it be preclinical models for example.
  • 14:17Relation based research
  • 14:18epidemiology that have.
  • 14:23Clinical samples may have
  • 14:26limited generalizability.
  • 14:27But when translational science
  • 14:28is really working at its best,
  • 14:31we're able to triangulate across
  • 14:34these domains, and that's when I
  • 14:36think we can really make progress,
  • 14:38and my hope is that.
  • 14:40By the end of this talk,
  • 14:42I've convinced you.
  • 14:45That the story of prenatal SSRI
  • 14:47exposure is 1 where this trend?
  • 14:55By giving you some background on depression
  • 14:58during pregnancy to provide some context
  • 15:01for why antidepressant use during
  • 15:03pregnancy is such an important topic.
  • 15:06So to begin, UM, depression
  • 15:09during pregnancy common,
  • 15:10it's estimated that anywhere from
  • 15:1310 to 20% of women will experience
  • 15:16depression during pregnancy,
  • 15:18and then there are a host of associated
  • 15:21risks that go along with that.
  • 15:23So, first and foremost is the
  • 15:25depressed and anxious mood.
  • 15:27But the suffering of the depression
  • 15:29experience by the by the individual.
  • 15:32But then there are a host of
  • 15:35other potential complications.
  • 15:36So one is that, UM,
  • 15:38prenatal depression is associated
  • 15:40with worse prenatal care,
  • 15:42poor nutrition.
  • 15:44An increased risk for substance
  • 15:46abuse and suicide.
  • 15:48There's also concerns about premature
  • 15:50delivery and low birth weight.
  • 15:53A another growing concern is that
  • 15:56prenatal depression may increase
  • 15:58stress hormones and have trickle down
  • 16:01effects on the fetus by altering
  • 16:05the intrauterine environment.
  • 16:07And then last but certainly not least,
  • 16:09is that prenatal depression is really
  • 16:11a set up for postpartum depression,
  • 16:13which can have negative effects on
  • 16:16the parent infant interaction with
  • 16:19downstream effects on neural development.
  • 16:24So if a pregnant woman develops
  • 16:27depression and discuss his
  • 16:28treatment with her doctor,
  • 16:30it's really important to keep
  • 16:32in mind that this decision,
  • 16:34the treatment decision,
  • 16:35is really a balancing act.
  • 16:37The the physician and the pregnant
  • 16:39woman are trying on the one hand
  • 16:42to weigh the negative effects of
  • 16:44the depression while at the same
  • 16:47time considering potential risks of
  • 16:49prenatal antidepressant exposure.
  • 16:50And when I say enter the present.
  • 16:52Oh sure, I'm referring primarily
  • 16:54to SSRI exposure,
  • 16:55and I'll show you later that's the
  • 16:59primary medication class that's used.
  • 17:01Uhm, and the SSRI.
  • 17:03Exposure to the fetus really is not trivial.
  • 17:06These medications readily
  • 17:08pass through the placenta,
  • 17:10and it's estimated that their levels in
  • 17:13fetal circulation are anywhere from 70
  • 17:15to 80% of that of the maternal levels.
  • 17:20Safety concerns have come up over the
  • 17:24years with a variety of FDA warnings.
  • 17:28But most of these concerns
  • 17:30have been put to rest,
  • 17:32or at least these concerns have
  • 17:34seemed far less significant than
  • 17:36the risk of untreated depression.
  • 17:40And as these safety concerns have subsided,
  • 17:43prenatal SSRI use in EU.
  • 17:45S has steadily increased.
  • 17:47So what I'm showing here is the
  • 17:50percentage of pregnant women taking
  • 17:52an antidepressant in EU. S. Overtime.
  • 17:55Then you can see this steady increase.
  • 17:57The top line here.
  • 17:59Is any antidepressant and the
  • 18:01next line down is of those.
  • 18:03The percentage of SSR eyes and
  • 18:05so you can see that the Lions
  • 18:07sharing enter depressant prescribed
  • 18:09during pregnancy are indeed.
  • 18:11SSRI, enter the presence.
  • 18:14And so we're now at a point where
  • 18:17SSR eyes are used by anywhere from 4
  • 18:21to 8% of pregnant women in the US,
  • 18:24and that translates to anywhere from
  • 18:26160 to 320,000 babies born each year.
  • 18:31In EU.
  • 18:32S who have been prenatally exposed to SSRI's.
  • 18:39So now that I've I've given you
  • 18:41some of the clinical context
  • 18:43regarding SSRI use during pregnancy,
  • 18:46I want to shift to the second part
  • 18:48of my talk where we move from the
  • 18:51clinical setting to the bench or
  • 18:53do basic neuroscience research and
  • 18:56starting in the early 2000s Neuro
  • 18:59Neuro scientists started trying to
  • 19:02use preclinical models to understand
  • 19:05how SSR eyes are effective.
  • 19:08And at the most proxamol level,
  • 19:11we have a pretty good sense of how they work,
  • 19:14so you have your presynaptic and
  • 19:17postsynaptic neurons and SSRI's
  • 19:19block the transporter that reabsorb
  • 19:21serotonin from the synaptic cleft
  • 19:23from the synaptic cleft.
  • 19:27So one approach that was used
  • 19:30early on to try to understand how
  • 19:33SSRI's work was the transporter,
  • 19:36knockout mouse and the idea here.
  • 19:39And this was work done in
  • 19:41large part by J Gingrich.
  • 19:43The idea here was that it's
  • 19:46SSRI lock the transporter,
  • 19:48then simply removing the transporter
  • 19:51should mimic those SSRI effects and
  • 19:54essentially creating a highly resilient
  • 19:56mouse or or a type of mighty mouse.
  • 20:01And what's quite interesting is that
  • 20:03that's not at all what was found.
  • 20:06Uhm, instead of a less anxious mouse,
  • 20:09the knockout mouse actually displays more
  • 20:13anxious like behavior and an example of
  • 20:16that is using the latency to feed paradigm.
  • 20:20So what you see here is a mouse in
  • 20:23a cage with a tasty food pellet
  • 20:25in the middle of the cage,
  • 20:27and the investigators measure
  • 20:28how long it takes for the mouse.
  • 20:31To get up the courage to go into the
  • 20:33middle of the cage and and eat the
  • 20:35treat and so first you see the latency
  • 20:38to feed in the the wild type mouse.
  • 20:41Uhm and then come with a mouse have been
  • 20:44pretreated with the necessary you see,
  • 20:46a decrease in the latency to feed.
  • 20:48So in other words the mouse gets up the
  • 20:51courage sooner and it goes into the
  • 20:53middle of the cage and eats the pellet.
  • 20:55Uhm, but with the knockout mouse you
  • 20:58actually see this increased latency.
  • 21:00So surprisingly,
  • 21:01it actually takes that in-house,
  • 21:03longer to get up the courage to go and
  • 21:07explore the middle of the of the cage.
  • 21:13Uhm? And I realized that I'm being
  • 21:16a bit loose in my my language here.
  • 21:19When I when I say I'm out
  • 21:20getting up the courage.
  • 21:21Obviously I'm not meeting that literally.
  • 21:23What I mean really is anxious like behaviors.
  • 21:27Uhm? And so this finding has
  • 21:29actually been replicated.
  • 21:30Now many, many times what I'm showing
  • 21:33the slides here on the left these are.
  • 21:37Brain slices that are staying for
  • 21:39this for the serotonin transporter
  • 21:41and the wild type you see that the
  • 21:44transporter is relatively ubiquitous
  • 21:45across the the mouse brain,
  • 21:47and then on the slide on the right
  • 21:49it's entirely absent, so the the
  • 21:51knockout process does indeed do it.
  • 21:53It's supposed to do.
  • 21:54And then, in terms of behavioral phenotypes.
  • 21:59What I described previously was
  • 22:01to increase latency to feed,
  • 22:02but there's also increased anxiety
  • 22:04like behaviors on an open field test,
  • 22:07there's increased stress responsivity,
  • 22:09increased social avoidance,
  • 22:11and increased sensitivity
  • 22:12to alcohol and to cocaine.
  • 22:19Now, this finding of increased
  • 22:21anxiety and depressive like behaviors
  • 22:24is somewhat paradoxical because if
  • 22:27SSRI's or disabling the transporter,
  • 22:29then why should it be that
  • 22:31removing the transporter should
  • 22:33actually have the opposite effect?
  • 22:36And to answer this is where having a
  • 22:40developmental perspective is so so critical.
  • 22:43So if we think of the,
  • 22:44the knockout mouse is having the
  • 22:47transporter removed from the gecko,
  • 22:49so there's increased serotonin
  • 22:51signaling from conception all
  • 22:53the way through development.
  • 22:55And what the FINA?
  • 22:56The behavioral phenotype that
  • 22:57we see is increased, anxious,
  • 22:59and depressive like behaviors.
  • 23:01The story is quite different
  • 23:03with an SSRI treated.
  • 23:07A mouse where you expose the mouse
  • 23:09to an SSRI later in development
  • 23:12and therefore only have increased
  • 23:14serotonin signaling on a much
  • 23:16more mature brain and see a
  • 23:18different behavioral phenotype.
  • 23:23So this, UM, this sort of developmental
  • 23:26insight LED Mark answer Key and
  • 23:29others to conduct a really elegant
  • 23:32series of experiments where they
  • 23:34asked what would happen if you
  • 23:37block the serotonin transporter over
  • 23:39distinct periods during development.
  • 23:41And so using an SSRI in this case Prozac,
  • 23:45they blocked the transporter in mice
  • 23:47at different developmental stages,
  • 23:49and then probed the anxious and
  • 23:51depressive like behaviors in
  • 23:53these mice during adulthood.
  • 23:57And what they found was that
  • 23:59if they blocked the transporter
  • 24:01during the adult period during post
  • 24:04day to post Natal Day 90 to 190,
  • 24:06they did not see this increased in
  • 24:09anxious or depressed like behaviors.
  • 24:11Similarly, post data 21 to 41.
  • 24:15And it was only in this relatively
  • 24:18narrow window window that they saw that
  • 24:21adult phenotypes increased anxiety from
  • 24:24post Natal Day two to post Natal Day 11.
  • 24:31So. Uhm? If we now translate that
  • 24:38period into the human analogue.
  • 24:40That period of post Natal Day
  • 24:43two through post Natal Day 11,
  • 24:45translates into the third
  • 24:47trimester gestation in humans.
  • 24:50So the prenatal period.
  • 24:54Mark and others then went on to show
  • 24:57that this early increase in serotonin
  • 24:59signaling caused abnormalities in
  • 25:01morphology and electrophysiology,
  • 25:04and the informit cortex as well as.
  • 25:08Alterations in theater learning.
  • 25:15So now, uhm. The question that we
  • 25:17need to ask is why should serotonin
  • 25:21signaling have such different effects
  • 25:23depending on the stage and development?
  • 25:29It occurs the answer to this
  • 25:32question is still somewhat unknown,
  • 25:34but it likely relates to the
  • 25:36functional role of serotonin changing
  • 25:38over the course of development.
  • 25:40So in adulthood, serotonin acts
  • 25:42like a canonical neurotransmitter,
  • 25:44but during the fetal period serotonin
  • 25:46seems to act more like growth factor
  • 25:50influencing neuronal proliferation,
  • 25:51migration as well as the
  • 25:54organization of early neurons and.
  • 26:00My favorite example of this
  • 26:02comes from Pat Leavitt's lab,
  • 26:04where they found that the actual
  • 26:07direction of axonal growth and can
  • 26:11actually be reversed depending
  • 26:13on serotonin concentrations.
  • 26:16The mechanisms underlying how serotonin
  • 26:18function changes over development
  • 26:19are still being worked out and
  • 26:21not within the scope of this talk,
  • 26:23but there is a lot of really interesting
  • 26:26work being done in this area,
  • 26:28and I provide a reference here
  • 26:29for those who are interested.
  • 26:34So I now want to take you to
  • 26:37the next part of the talk,
  • 26:39so we've gone from the clinic where we
  • 26:42talked about the increase in the use of
  • 26:45SSR eyes during pregnancy to the bench,
  • 26:48where we learned that at
  • 26:51least in a preclinical model.
  • 26:54Prenatal exposure to accessorize seemed to
  • 26:57have long lasting our development effects,
  • 27:00but the question now is,
  • 27:02does this have any relevance to humans?
  • 27:05And to answer this question,
  • 27:07we're going to move from the bench to
  • 27:10population studies or epidemiology.
  • 27:14So I'm going to take you on a trip
  • 27:18across the Atlantic to Finland.
  • 27:21And Finland is really an extraordinary
  • 27:23place to do epidemiologic work,
  • 27:26because their health system
  • 27:28tracks their health system,
  • 27:30has a national registry where they can
  • 27:33track all citizens from from birth forward,
  • 27:37allowing investigators such like Andre
  • 27:40surrender to look at the effects
  • 27:43of exposures at a population level.
  • 27:47So using this finish register registry,
  • 27:50Andre and his colleagues were able
  • 27:52to identify 60,000 infants who
  • 27:54were born between 1996 to 2010.
  • 27:57And then they stratified that sample
  • 28:00into 33,000 who were born to healthy,
  • 28:03nondepressed mothers.
  • 28:0410,000 born to mothers with
  • 28:07a diagnosis of depression.
  • 28:09And then another 17,000 born to
  • 28:13mothers who had a psychiatric illness
  • 28:15and used an SSRI during pregnancy.
  • 28:20And here's what they what
  • 28:22they found and this slide.
  • 28:24I realize it's a. It's a bit busy,
  • 28:25so let me walk you through it.
  • 28:28So what we're looking at here
  • 28:30are four different outcomes in
  • 28:32the children and the top left.
  • 28:34The outcome is depression,
  • 28:35and these are the percentage of
  • 28:37children who develop depression,
  • 28:39and these are the ages of the children.
  • 28:41So as you move from from birth
  • 28:43all the way up to 14 and you
  • 28:45see there's this increase in
  • 28:46the prevalence of depression.
  • 28:48The top line has the infants
  • 28:51who were exposed prenatally to
  • 28:53SSRI's and you can see that that
  • 28:56group is significantly higher
  • 28:58than all the other groups.
  • 29:01The other groups that they looked at were
  • 29:04infants who were exposed to a maternal
  • 29:08psychiatric illness during pregnancy,
  • 29:10but with no medication.
  • 29:12You see that in blue and yellow
  • 29:15you have mothers who discontinued.
  • 29:19SSRI before becoming pregnant.
  • 29:23Uhm and and and then the black.
  • 29:26You have a healthy control group.
  • 29:30So there's a few things to note about this,
  • 29:33so one is that the effects surprisingly
  • 29:36seems to be somewhat specific,
  • 29:38and that we see the effects of.
  • 29:40On depression outcome but we don't see
  • 29:42those effects for anxiety disorders,
  • 29:45autism or ADHD.
  • 29:46We don't see separation across the groups.
  • 29:49And also the stratification that they use.
  • 29:54Controls for the the presence of
  • 29:57psychiatric illness in the mother.
  • 30:00So it's unlikely to be attributable to.
  • 30:04Prenatal psychiatric illness alone.
  • 30:09Uhm? So this finish epidemiologic
  • 30:11study is consistent with the
  • 30:14preclinical findings that I showed you.
  • 30:17But there really are some critical
  • 30:20limitations that are that are
  • 30:22important to be mindful of.
  • 30:24First and foremost,
  • 30:25there's a problem of what's called
  • 30:28surveillance bias and what that refers to is.
  • 30:31The idea that if they if a pregnant
  • 30:34woman developed depression goes
  • 30:35to her doctor and decides to
  • 30:38take an anti depressant.
  • 30:40That woman,
  • 30:40when she becomes a mother may be
  • 30:43more likely to notice depression
  • 30:44and her offspring and bring her
  • 30:47offspring to see a a physician
  • 30:51rather than relative to a woman
  • 30:53who who's depressed but does
  • 30:55not seek SSRI treatment.
  • 30:59The second issue is post Natal factors.
  • 31:03So the finish study really did
  • 31:05not address post Natal issues,
  • 31:07so it's possible, for example,
  • 31:09that the SSRI exposed group also
  • 31:12experienced more negative post
  • 31:13data exposures and these post Natal
  • 31:16exposures were really driving the
  • 31:18outcomes rather than the SSRI per say.
  • 31:24And then the third limitation,
  • 31:26and this is really a critical
  • 31:27one in a really difficult.
  • 31:30It's called one to address.
  • 31:31This is called confounding by indication,
  • 31:33and this is an issue that I'm going to
  • 31:36continue to refer to later in the talk.
  • 31:38This compound refers to the idea
  • 31:39that there could be something
  • 31:41systematically different about the
  • 31:43mothers who took SSRI during pregnancy.
  • 31:46So, for example,
  • 31:47there might be some reason why
  • 31:49those mothers were prescribed
  • 31:51SSRI's versus the mothers who had
  • 31:53depression and were not prescribed.
  • 31:56Perhaps, for example,
  • 31:57they had a more severe depression,
  • 31:58and that's really what was
  • 32:00driving the finding.
  • 32:04So to try to address these
  • 32:07limitations, I'm going to.
  • 32:08I'm going to take you back to the
  • 32:11clinic to a clinic based study
  • 32:13that that we recently completed
  • 32:15where we tried to address at least
  • 32:18these first two limitations.
  • 32:23So this is a an infant MRI study
  • 32:26that we completed at New York
  • 32:29Presbyterian Hospital where we
  • 32:31recruited pregnant women from the OBGY
  • 32:34and clinics at New York Presbyterian.
  • 32:38We then conducted prenatal diagnostic
  • 32:41and medication assessments and anywhere
  • 32:45from 19 weeks to 39 weeks gestation.
  • 32:48And then we stratified the
  • 32:50women into three groups.
  • 32:51So we had our healthy control
  • 32:53group with no psychiatric illness.
  • 32:55Are group of women who developed
  • 32:58who are experienced depression
  • 33:00during pregnancy but did not take
  • 33:02medication and and then our SSRI group?
  • 33:08We then obtained MRI scans on their
  • 33:12babies at about 3 1/2 weeks of age.
  • 33:15These were non sedated infants
  • 33:18naturally put to sleep.
  • 33:20And we covariate for intersex
  • 33:23agents can birth weight and any
  • 33:27post Natal depressive symptoms.
  • 33:30So the strength of doing MRI scanning
  • 33:33so early in life is that it limits the
  • 33:37possibility of post Natal exposures.
  • 33:40So we're essentially phenotyping
  • 33:42the brain prior to the infant
  • 33:44having many post Natal exposures
  • 33:46by virtue of the young age.
  • 33:51And this is work that was
  • 33:53spearheaded by Claudia Lugo.
  • 33:54Condo lesson juchau that they
  • 33:57published in JAMA Pediatrics in 2018.
  • 34:00So what do we find?
  • 34:03So there's a couple findings that I
  • 34:05I want to draw your attention to.
  • 34:08Using structural MRI and
  • 34:10looking across the whole brain,
  • 34:13we found that the prenatally
  • 34:16exposed babies had.
  • 34:21Really two important findings.
  • 34:23One was an increase in the
  • 34:25volume of the right amygdala,
  • 34:27and that was above and beyond what
  • 34:28we saw in the depressed only group,
  • 34:31and the healthy controls.
  • 34:33And then similarly we saw a volume
  • 34:35increase in the right amygdala,
  • 34:37again in the SSRI group above,
  • 34:39and beyond what we saw in
  • 34:41our two comparison groups.
  • 34:45We then looked at a diffusion tractography
  • 34:49to look at white matter connectivity
  • 34:52and again here we looked across the
  • 34:55whole brain and unbiased approach.
  • 34:57And and we found that there were four
  • 35:01white matter connections that were
  • 35:04increased differentially in the SSRI group.
  • 35:07And what was most striking and that is that.
  • 35:12The similar to the structural MRI findings
  • 35:15we found increased connectivity between
  • 35:18the right amygdala and the right insula,
  • 35:21and that's displayed here in the
  • 35:23violin plot again in the SSRI group,
  • 35:25but not in our two comparison groups.
  • 35:30So while these findings are consistent
  • 35:33with what we would expect from the
  • 35:35preclinical data that I showed you,
  • 35:37as well as the population
  • 35:39based study in Finland,
  • 35:40they're not without important limitations.
  • 35:44So first and foremost,
  • 35:45our sample size was quite small.
  • 35:47We only had 16 babies who were
  • 35:49prenatally exposed tests, or I.
  • 35:51Second, we still haven't addressed this
  • 35:53issue of confounding by indication,
  • 35:55which again I'm going to.
  • 35:56I'm going to come back to 3rd.
  • 35:59We had no in this study.
  • 36:00We had no behavioral follow-ups,
  • 36:02and we really don't know the behavioral
  • 36:05significance of our MRI findings.
  • 36:07And then, third importantly,
  • 36:09there were really striking demographic
  • 36:12differences across our samples.
  • 36:14So if we looked at the SSRI group
  • 36:17versus the depressed but no SSRI group,
  • 36:20the SSRI group was significantly wealthier.
  • 36:24We can't know for sure why that happened,
  • 36:26but we assume it relates to access to care,
  • 36:29and we of course tried to control
  • 36:31for this and our analysis.
  • 36:33But when the when the difference
  • 36:34is that stark,
  • 36:35there's a limit to what you can control.
  • 36:37Or just statistically?
  • 36:42OK. So this brings me to our
  • 36:46our current ongoing study which
  • 36:48were conducting in Sherbrooke,
  • 36:51QC and this is a collaborative project
  • 36:54that we're doing with Larissa Taxor,
  • 36:57who's a professor at the University
  • 36:59of Sherbrooke and Adi Talati,
  • 37:01who is an associate professor
  • 37:03at Columbia University.
  • 37:04And the first question that I
  • 37:06always get when presenting this
  • 37:08work is why are we doing this
  • 37:10study in Sherbrooke and in Quebec?
  • 37:13And there's a few reasons for that.
  • 37:16One is that as many of you know,
  • 37:19Canada has universal health care,
  • 37:22so that issue that I described before
  • 37:24having the demographic differences that
  • 37:26we think we're related to access to care.
  • 37:29We're hoping that by doing this study
  • 37:30in an area with universal healthcare,
  • 37:32that should no longer be an
  • 37:35issue in our follow-up study.
  • 37:37The second Sherbrooke,
  • 37:39being in Quebec,
  • 37:41is Quebec is the only French speaking
  • 37:43province in Canada and as a result
  • 37:46people who are born in Quebec tend to
  • 37:48stay in Quebec and for anyone who's
  • 37:51ever done birth cohort brief research,
  • 37:54you really don't want people
  • 37:55moving out of area and makes it
  • 37:57much much harder to do followups,
  • 37:58so doing this type of study
  • 38:00in in Quebec is advantageous,
  • 38:02and our collaborator lyrics attacks
  • 38:04are Rana prior birth cohort study and.
  • 38:07At 90% retention up into adolescence,
  • 38:10which is really remarkable for
  • 38:12that type of study.
  • 38:14And then third,
  • 38:15although Sherbrooke is a
  • 38:17relatively small city,
  • 38:18it has about 200,000 people.
  • 38:20It's the tertiary Center for
  • 38:22all of eastern Quebec,
  • 38:24so their volume of deliveries
  • 38:25is actually quite high.
  • 38:27They get about 2000 deliveries per year.
  • 38:32So in this new study we are going
  • 38:35to be recruiting women during
  • 38:37the first trimester of pregnancy,
  • 38:40following them over the course of
  • 38:42gestation while tracking their depressive
  • 38:44symptoms and their medication use.
  • 38:47Will then be scanning their babies
  • 38:49with MRI at about one month of age
  • 38:51and then continuing to follow the
  • 38:53babies for the 1st 24 months of life.
  • 38:57And there's really three aims
  • 38:59that we're trying to tackle.
  • 39:02The first is can we replicate
  • 39:04our prior infant MRI studies
  • 39:06regarding the amygdala and insula?
  • 39:09Uhm, the second ummites determine whether
  • 39:12there are any behavioral effects.
  • 39:14So we'll be doing will be looking
  • 39:17at behavioral effects related to
  • 39:19emotion regulation in the babies
  • 39:20at 12 months and 24 months,
  • 39:22testing whether there's any effect
  • 39:24of SSRI on those behaviors,
  • 39:26and whether that relates to the
  • 39:29MRI findings and then third,
  • 39:32will be testing for post Natal modifyers.
  • 39:36So, for example, does the parent.
  • 39:40Infant interaction during the foot needle
  • 39:42period does that alter our outcomes?
  • 39:48So I want to return again to this
  • 39:51issue of confounding by indication,
  • 39:54because this is an issue that
  • 39:56we really struggled with in
  • 39:58trying to design this study.
  • 40:00Uhm, and the you know,
  • 40:02the only way to fully address this confound.
  • 40:05If through randomization
  • 40:07randomizing or a group of depressed
  • 40:10women to either SSRI or SIBO.
  • 40:12But we we felt that that
  • 40:15would not be feasible,
  • 40:16and the ethics of that would be
  • 40:19would be somewhat questionable.
  • 40:21So in lieu of randomization, uh,
  • 40:23we're trying to carefully phenotype
  • 40:26the the nature of the depression and
  • 40:29the SSRI use throughout gestation,
  • 40:32so we will be through remote tracking,
  • 40:35will be tracking the pregnant
  • 40:37woman's mood symptoms every
  • 40:38two weeks throughout gestation.
  • 40:41Beginning in the first trimester,
  • 40:43and will also be quantifying SSRI
  • 40:46exposure through pharmacy records.
  • 40:48So I want to give you an example
  • 40:50of how we're thinking about.
  • 40:51That's so if you take this
  • 40:54case as one example,
  • 40:55if you have a a pregnant woman
  • 40:57during the first trimester,
  • 40:59her level of depressive symptoms are
  • 41:01low and she's not taking an SSRI.
  • 41:04Then during the second trimester
  • 41:06her depressive symptoms increase.
  • 41:07Still,
  • 41:07no SSRI.
  • 41:08And then during the surgery master she
  • 41:11has high depressive symptoms and no
  • 41:13SSRI that will be one case example.
  • 41:16And then you might have another pregnant
  • 41:18woman woman wear during the first trimester.
  • 41:21She has both high levels of depressive
  • 41:23symptoms and is taking a high dose of
  • 41:25an SSRI during the second trimester.
  • 41:27The depressive symptoms remain high.
  • 41:29SSR eyes drop a bit third trimester.
  • 41:32Her depressive symptoms drop
  • 41:33and her SSRI use goes up.
  • 41:38What we can do with with that level
  • 41:41of granularity then is essentially
  • 41:43create individualized areas under
  • 41:44the curve to quantify the degree
  • 41:47of exposure to depressive symptoms
  • 41:49that that the fetus has as well
  • 41:52as the degree of SSRI exposure.
  • 41:55Uhm, and what we're hoping is that
  • 41:58this approach should minimize the
  • 42:00likelihood that there are systematic
  • 42:03differences in the maternal depression
  • 42:05across our different groups,
  • 42:07or to the extent that there
  • 42:09are systematic differences,
  • 42:09will be able to quantify those
  • 42:11differences and account for them.
  • 42:18So this is a an R1 funded study
  • 42:21that we launched in 2019.
  • 42:24In our original plan was to have
  • 42:28recruitment of about 350 women
  • 42:30for the first 2.5 years of the
  • 42:33study and then have our final
  • 42:35assessments four to five years later.
  • 42:38That timeline has unfortunately
  • 42:39been significantly altered
  • 42:40due to COVID where we were.
  • 42:43We were shut down for a
  • 42:44significant period of time,
  • 42:46but our overall strategy.
  • 42:49Remains the same.
  • 42:51And another point that I want to
  • 42:53make is that our our hope and our
  • 42:56expectation from this study is not
  • 42:59that will find that prenatal SSRI
  • 43:01use is harmful or on the other
  • 43:04hand that it's entirely benign,
  • 43:07but rather that our study can aid
  • 43:10women and clinicians when they're
  • 43:12making decisions about whether to
  • 43:14use antidepressants during pregnancy.
  • 43:16So currently that decision
  • 43:18as I mentioned before,
  • 43:19really is a balancing act
  • 43:22between various risk factors,
  • 43:24but we really aren't clear
  • 43:25about what those risks are and
  • 43:28what those ramifications are.
  • 43:29The decisions being made simply
  • 43:32with far too many unknowns.
  • 43:35And we think that whether or
  • 43:38not we find neurodevelopmental
  • 43:39effects of prenatal SSRI use these
  • 43:42results will be helpful either way.
  • 43:45So, for example,
  • 43:46if we have find that the effects of
  • 43:48the SSRI really are minimal on the offspring,
  • 43:51this will allow clinicians to
  • 43:53more confidently prescribe SSR
  • 43:54eyes and will allow pregnant women
  • 43:56to use them with with much less
  • 43:59anxiety about their effects.
  • 44:00Alternatively,
  • 44:00if we find that there are significant
  • 44:03effects or significant concerns that.
  • 44:06This will steer the field towards
  • 44:08towards other treatments for depression
  • 44:11treatments such as psychotherapy
  • 44:13or non serotonin antidepressants.
  • 44:18Before concluding, I also I wanted to
  • 44:21briefly mention some of the methodological
  • 44:25challenges of doing infant MRI work as
  • 44:28this was quite relevant to our study.
  • 44:32So up here on the left hand corner
  • 44:35I'm showing you infant MRI scans,
  • 44:37T2 weighted MRI scans from the same child
  • 44:40when the child was three weeks old,
  • 44:42and then again when the child was 16
  • 44:45months old and what I want to point
  • 44:47out is that this was the same MRI
  • 44:49pulse sequence and yet you can see
  • 44:51the contrast in the brain differs
  • 44:54quite dramatically and the reason
  • 44:55for that is that the water content
  • 44:58of the brain changes substantially
  • 45:00over the course of development.
  • 45:02And that causes major challenges when
  • 45:06doing infant MRI research because
  • 45:09most of our existing pipeline and
  • 45:12approaches for doing MRI analysis
  • 45:14are based on a mature brain.
  • 45:16And so if you change the
  • 45:18contrast dramatically,
  • 45:19those approaches are going
  • 45:20to become much less accurate.
  • 45:24So this is one UM example,
  • 45:27where an existing pipeline in MRI
  • 45:31pipeline and automated software is used
  • 45:34to segment the amygdala and infant brand.
  • 45:37So each one of these pictures is
  • 45:39a different amygdala that's been
  • 45:41segmented from an infant MRI scan and
  • 45:43what I want to draw your attention
  • 45:45to is that there's the overall
  • 45:47curvature does look like the amygdala,
  • 45:49but there's bumps and ridges in this
  • 45:51that are clearly not representing.
  • 45:53Anatomy and are just in accuracies
  • 45:56and in the processing.
  • 45:58So we are trying to leverage
  • 46:02artificial intelligence to improve
  • 46:05upon these techniques,
  • 46:07and so these are the results
  • 46:10from our AI approach.
  • 46:11Segmenting the amygdala
  • 46:13in from infant MRI scans,
  • 46:16and you can see it's it's
  • 46:18certainly not perfect,
  • 46:19but these types of bumps are are much,
  • 46:21much less common in in our segmentation
  • 46:24relative to the standard case.
  • 46:27Another huge.
  • 46:28Advantage of UM,
  • 46:31that this artificial intelligence
  • 46:33approaches the the computational time.
  • 46:35So segmenting a infant brand
  • 46:38using standard software,
  • 46:39it takes up to 8 hours per MRI scan,
  • 46:43and if you're working with,
  • 46:44you know large datasets that can
  • 46:46be incredibly cumbersome for
  • 46:48artificial intelligence which
  • 46:50can do the same operation about
  • 46:52literally about 10 seconds.
  • 46:54We've also measured the accuracy of
  • 46:56our AI AI approach against a gold
  • 46:59standard human tracing of the amygdala,
  • 47:02and ours outperforms the standard techniques,
  • 47:06and this is work that's being
  • 47:08spearheaded by Yun Wang and Claudia Lugo.
  • 47:10Can Dallas.
  • 47:13Uhm? So in summary, UM,
  • 47:17some of the lessons that we've
  • 47:20learned in doing this work.
  • 47:23I realize this is probably preaching,
  • 47:25preaching to the choir,
  • 47:27but first is the the the importance
  • 47:29of development and not forgetting
  • 47:32that the infant brain is is not only
  • 47:35is not an adult brain, only small,
  • 47:37or that the Physiology of the
  • 47:39infant brain of the developing
  • 47:41brain really can differ quite
  • 47:43substantially from the adult brain.
  • 47:47The second is the importance of
  • 47:50translational research that all of
  • 47:53our approaches have limitations,
  • 47:55and what we really should be shooting for
  • 47:58is triangulation across those modalities.
  • 48:01Uhm, and speaking to that point,
  • 48:03I I want to conclude with a quote from
  • 48:06Michael Rutter who said it would be a
  • 48:08great mistake to see translation simply
  • 48:10in terms of applying at the bedside.
  • 48:13The findings of basic science.
  • 48:15Many of the pathways start with clinical
  • 48:17studies and not with basic science and
  • 48:20an even greater proportion involve a
  • 48:22complex iterative interplay between the two.
  • 48:24And it's that iterative interplay
  • 48:26that I think we're we're really after
  • 48:28in in many questions of psychiatry,
  • 48:30but certainly.
  • 48:31The safety of SS variety during pregnancy.
  • 48:37So I want to acknowledge that the
  • 48:39people that have supported this work,
  • 48:41UM, NIH, UM, the Webster Foundation,
  • 48:46several others, and really wanted to
  • 48:48thank you for your time and attention
  • 48:50and happy to take any questions.
  • 49:05Thank you Jonathan. I don't
  • 49:07know how it worked on zoom,
  • 49:08but if you were here in real
  • 49:09life people just clap for you.
  • 49:10I want you to know that.
  • 49:12No, thank you.
  • 49:14But really excellent and elegant
  • 49:16program of research you described for me.
  • 49:19Really cool to see the kind
  • 49:21of bringing together at the.
  • 49:23From everything from very basic kind
  • 49:24of animal work to stuff that's very
  • 49:26very relevant and applied one second
  • 49:29while we changed the view here.
  • 49:34Jonathan, could you stop sharing? Sure yes.
  • 49:43He sent over a share. OK,
  • 49:44here you go,
  • 49:45Jonathan. There we go.
  • 49:49OK, so now my understanding is
  • 49:52that people in the audience
  • 49:54can actually ask a question with
  • 49:56their own mouths if they would like.
  • 49:58If they unmute, I don't.
  • 50:00I don't know that anyone's unmuted yet,
  • 50:02but I can go ahead and
  • 50:04start with a question
  • 50:06so. I thought it was really cool to see
  • 50:09to get an understanding of the mechanism
  • 50:11of how SSR eyes could be affecting
  • 50:14prenatal brain growth from the mice,
  • 50:16and it's really cool to see the differences
  • 50:20that you saw in the the neonates.
  • 50:23And I guess my questions are,
  • 50:25I mean, another thing interesting
  • 50:26is if I understood correctly,
  • 50:28like the the mechanisms of what
  • 50:30the authorized we're doing.
  • 50:31It's not simply like there's just and
  • 50:34there's too little, too little serotonin.
  • 50:36It's a different structure,
  • 50:37it's affecting around migration.
  • 50:39So I guess my question is,
  • 50:40is do the mice,
  • 50:42the differences you see in the mice brains.
  • 50:46I know that the structure is
  • 50:47going to be different,
  • 50:48but are they at least consistent
  • 50:50with the differences that you see in
  • 50:52infant brains and an infant brains?
  • 50:53Is the pattern of kind of insula,
  • 50:55amygdala enlargement and
  • 50:57connectivity differences?
  • 50:59Is that an established kind of neural
  • 51:01phenotype for people with major
  • 51:03depressive disorder in adulthood?
  • 51:06Those are great great questions.
  • 51:08Jamie. Thanks so much for that.
  • 51:10Yeah, you know I. I think it's
  • 51:13really fascinating to think that.
  • 51:15The, UM, the Physiology of serotonin
  • 51:17or or it's a it's a fax on the brain
  • 51:21can differ so substantially depending
  • 51:23on the developmental period that you're
  • 51:26you're looking at and you know one of
  • 51:28the things that I I didn't mention.
  • 51:30Also is that expression of the
  • 51:34serotonin transporter also changes
  • 51:36substantially across development.
  • 51:38So in the adult or mature brain the
  • 51:40expression is somewhat circumscribed,
  • 51:43whereas in the fetal and infant brain.
  • 51:46It's it's rather ubiquitous,
  • 51:47so it's it's expressed,
  • 51:48although for the brain, and interestingly,
  • 51:51it's also it's not in the adult brain,
  • 51:54its expression is limited to
  • 51:56serotine ergic neurons,
  • 51:58which would,
  • 51:58which would make sense given its role.
  • 52:00But in the fetal brain it's
  • 52:02expressed in neurons that that
  • 52:04don't actually release serotonin.
  • 52:06Again, speaking to the more plausible
  • 52:09role of serotonin as a neurotrophic
  • 52:12factor rather than a neurotransmitter.
  • 52:15Uhm, but to answer the other
  • 52:18part of your question.
  • 52:20So I I guess I would say yes and no,
  • 52:23UM, so certainly,
  • 52:25UM,
  • 52:25the the behavioral phenotype that
  • 52:28they're seeing in the rodent models
  • 52:32relate to emotion regulation and
  • 52:35what we saw in our Internet MRI
  • 52:37scans the effects and the amygdala.
  • 52:39The campus,
  • 52:40certainly those are heavily
  • 52:42implicated in emotional responses
  • 52:44or emotional responses in how we
  • 52:47respond to various emotional stimuli.
  • 52:49So there's there's consistency.
  • 52:51There.
  • 52:52Uhm,
  • 52:52where there's less,
  • 52:53consistency is the the specific
  • 52:56brain substrates.
  • 52:57So in the rodent models the lion's
  • 53:00share the lion's share of the
  • 53:02findings were hippocampal based in,
  • 53:04at least in our hands.
  • 53:05We we did not.
  • 53:06We did not see the effects
  • 53:08and that the campus.
  • 53:11But I you know I, I don't.
  • 53:13I don't know that, UM,
  • 53:15we should expect to see sort of a
  • 53:17one to one correspondence in terms
  • 53:19of in terms of neural substrates.
  • 53:22You know, I think the fact that
  • 53:25analogous brain circuits are
  • 53:27involved is probably enough to
  • 53:30motivate further work in humans. And
  • 53:33what about babies to adults is like
  • 53:36the insular amygdala and a kind of
  • 53:38depressive neural phenotype in adults.
  • 53:41Yeah, for sure, and I'm sorry that I
  • 53:44I didn't mention that so alterations
  • 53:47in connectivity between the amygdala
  • 53:50and insula have been implicated
  • 53:53in anxiety disorders in adults,
  • 53:56and have also been implicated
  • 53:58in trait levels of anxiety.
  • 54:00So not just the disorder per say,
  • 54:03it's more implicated in
  • 54:05anxiety than depression,
  • 54:06but I think probably trying to
  • 54:09parse anxiety from depression.
  • 54:11Particularly at that early stage,
  • 54:14it may be asking too much of the data.
  • 54:17Thank you. Other
  • 54:19questions, either in the
  • 54:20room or in cyberspace.
  • 54:27I'll explain my position
  • 54:29and then I'm also curious,
  • 54:30given that kind of breath.
  • 54:32I guess you describe it as kind of civic,
  • 54:35but the the breadth of
  • 54:36disruptions that you see.
  • 54:37It's interesting to me that you
  • 54:39the epidemiological effects you see
  • 54:41are really specific to depression,
  • 54:44which I guess isn't really a question,
  • 54:45but that's just some striking to me.
  • 54:48It is it is striking, yeah.
  • 54:52And and it is striking.
  • 54:54And all honestly,
  • 54:55I don't quite know what to make of that.
  • 54:58I I certainly would have
  • 54:59predicted that if there were,
  • 55:01in effect on depression, you would
  • 55:03also see that affecting on anxiety II.
  • 55:06Suppose one possibility for that is
  • 55:09that the anxiety effects were elevated,
  • 55:13they just weren't elevated above
  • 55:15and beyond the other groups.
  • 55:17So it it may be that the because the.
  • 55:22The prenatal maternal illness
  • 55:24is also increasing anxiety.
  • 55:27We're not seeing a differential effect.
  • 55:30And for whatever reason,
  • 55:32that differential effect is
  • 55:34only located in depression in,
  • 55:36you know, I realize that's not
  • 55:37a very satisfying answer, but.
  • 55:40If others have thoughts on that,
  • 55:42I would I would love to hear your your views.
  • 55:46I'm less good at Andres than making
  • 55:48vague threats to people on zoom
  • 55:51who aren't and drink questions,
  • 55:52and we've gotten in vivo question.
  • 55:56But we've got to run the mic to you,
  • 55:59OK.
  • 56:17Can you on me? Yeah, can someone on the
  • 56:20zoom give me a thumbs up if you can hear me
  • 56:22Linda or Faye? Yes, I can hear you.
  • 56:25I can hear you well understood you well
  • 56:28and we can hear you as well.
  • 56:29So that's good.
  • 56:30Hold on one second.
  • 56:30We have a question.
  • 56:31It just say your name.
  • 56:34Hi, I'm Cassie.
  • 56:35I'm a postdoc or post graduate trainee.
  • 56:38UM and I've had two.
  • 56:41There's sort of half baked questions,
  • 56:42but one of the things I was thinking
  • 56:45about is I was wondering like what
  • 56:47kinds of sort of subjective self
  • 56:49report information you might be
  • 56:50getting from others during their
  • 56:52pregnancies and thinking about like.
  • 56:54What kind of I guess I've met anxiety they
  • 56:56might be having about being on an SSRI
  • 56:59and potential developmental effects if
  • 57:01these are women who are of High SC accident.
  • 57:05I don't know, just like putting
  • 57:07myself in that potential situation,
  • 57:09I could imagine not only
  • 57:11be anxious in general,
  • 57:12but like having anxiety about my anxiety
  • 57:14and knowing that that might have an
  • 57:16effect on my child's development.
  • 57:17So I was curious about what kinds
  • 57:19of subjective self report stuff
  • 57:21you might be getting from moms,
  • 57:23and then honestly,
  • 57:24my seeking questions is keeping me so.
  • 57:26I guess I'll just leave it at that.
  • 57:29Yeah,
  • 57:29I, I think it's I think it's a really,
  • 57:31really great question and I and
  • 57:33I I think that also you know it
  • 57:35speaks it Harkins back to this
  • 57:36issue of confounding by indication.
  • 57:38So you know, if you have a a group
  • 57:40of women who are depressed and not
  • 57:42taking necessary versus a group
  • 57:44of women who are depressed and
  • 57:46taking this try is there some?
  • 57:47Is there some reason for that?
  • 57:48Is there some reason why one
  • 57:51group was prescribed and SSRI?
  • 57:53And uhm. You know,
  • 57:56really definitively answering
  • 57:58that is is really difficult.
  • 58:01You know our our approach was to
  • 58:04enroll early on pregnancy so we
  • 58:07could start assessing from the get go
  • 58:11throughout the course of pregnancy
  • 58:12and then to assess quite frequently,
  • 58:15so we'd have multiple data points so we
  • 58:17could look at things like trajectories.
  • 58:19You know,
  • 58:20changing the depression symptoms overtime.
  • 58:23Uh, the differences across
  • 58:25various trimesters,
  • 58:27which which likely have an
  • 58:29effect on on fetal development.
  • 58:32The the the cost in doing that in
  • 58:35doing this very frequent assessments
  • 58:37is that our we didn't want to send
  • 58:42women no extensive questionnaires
  • 58:43every two weeks to fill out.
  • 58:45We just didn't think that would be feasible.
  • 58:47That people understandably would get
  • 58:49frustrated and stop completing them.
  • 58:51So our our assessments are are somewhat
  • 58:53cursory and that we're using that.
  • 58:55The PHQ 9 and GAD,
  • 58:59which is a I can't remember a
  • 59:00seven or nine item questionnaire.
  • 59:03Self Report questionnaire about anxiety.
  • 59:05And then we're also assessing
  • 59:07any substance use,
  • 59:08so we're assessing frequently
  • 59:10over a long period of time,
  • 59:12but the type of granularity that
  • 59:15you're talking about in terms
  • 59:17of the nature of the.
  • 59:19Anxious feelings I think it's going to be.
  • 59:21It's going to be difficult to to tease apart,
  • 59:24but I I think you I think you
  • 59:25raised a great point.
  • 59:29Thanks Jonathan and we have
  • 59:30a question from Malia.
  • 59:31Hi, thank you so much for
  • 59:33this great presentation.
  • 59:33Such important work
  • 59:35as we try to tease apart all day,
  • 59:38probably some outcomes.
  • 59:40And I'm really excited to see
  • 59:42your your longitudinal findings,
  • 59:44because my understanding at least,
  • 59:46is that sometimes you know
  • 59:48cross sectionally and infancy.
  • 59:49You may see some of these changes, but later
  • 59:51on the differences are not
  • 59:53significant any longer, so I'm
  • 59:56curious if you could comment a little
  • 59:57bit about that
  • 59:58and and additionally I was wondering in
  • 01:00:01your studies or other studies that you know
  • 01:00:06about or you present
  • 01:00:07it if of course, not with mice,
  • 01:00:10but with with. Humans.
  • 01:00:14How do you also control for other
  • 01:00:17therapies that a lot of these
  • 01:00:19mothers may be exposed to
  • 01:00:21and thinking about the fact that
  • 01:00:23some of these non pharmacologic
  • 01:00:27treatments also have effects on
  • 01:00:29brain morphology and connectivity?
  • 01:00:32Yeah, you know, I think that the both really,
  • 01:00:35really great question.
  • 01:00:36So the first question about
  • 01:00:38sort of the post Natal effect I.
  • 01:00:40I think that is hugely important and you
  • 01:00:44know, in a human longitudinal study.
  • 01:00:48It's you know, the postnatal
  • 01:00:50environment is really complicated,
  • 01:00:51and so to be able to assess
  • 01:00:53every aspect of it.
  • 01:00:54Of course it's not not feasible, but we are.
  • 01:00:58We're trying to really
  • 01:01:00get a comprehensive view,
  • 01:01:01and so the strategy that we're taking is
  • 01:01:05that they'll be four post Natal visits.
  • 01:01:08Two of them will be in the home
  • 01:01:09where will have researchers go and
  • 01:01:11actually assess the home environment,
  • 01:01:13and two of them will be in the in the lab.
  • 01:01:17There were quite, uhm, we.
  • 01:01:21We think that's very,
  • 01:01:22very important to have a good
  • 01:01:23characterization of the parent
  • 01:01:25infant interactions.
  • 01:01:25So we're actually collaborating
  • 01:01:27with accident investigator,
  • 01:01:29who I believe has an affiliation with Yale.
  • 01:01:32Ruth Feldman,
  • 01:01:33who developed a coding scheme to
  • 01:01:36to code parent interactions and
  • 01:01:38will be assessing those at anywhere
  • 01:01:41from two to three time points,
  • 01:01:44will also continue to assess the the mothers.
  • 01:01:48For for psychiatric symptoms,
  • 01:01:51postnatally so postpartum depression
  • 01:01:53anxiety and we are also this is
  • 01:01:56going to be more of a challenge,
  • 01:01:58but our goal is to also incorporate
  • 01:02:00fathers into that assessment to be
  • 01:02:02able to assess psychiatric symptoms and
  • 01:02:04substance use in the father's as well.
  • 01:02:08You know, I I. I, I think that we're
  • 01:02:12doing our darndest to get a good
  • 01:02:14characterization of the postman environment,
  • 01:02:16but I I fully acknowledge that there's,
  • 01:02:19you know, the environment complicated,
  • 01:02:20and there's there's a.
  • 01:02:21There's a limit to what we
  • 01:02:23could do in that regard.
  • 01:02:24But I I agree with your point.
  • 01:02:26That's it. Very well could be the
  • 01:02:29case that there are initial post
  • 01:02:31Natal effects that are fully moderated
  • 01:02:34by the the post Natal environment.
  • 01:02:37Uhm? And your second question.
  • 01:02:40Other other treatments?
  • 01:02:41Yeah, I think that's I think that's a
  • 01:02:44great point in our our short book study.
  • 01:02:47We will have information about
  • 01:02:49other treatments.
  • 01:02:51It won't be as granular as I might
  • 01:02:54like it to be, so we'll know if,
  • 01:02:56for example,
  • 01:02:57if a pregnant woman received
  • 01:02:59psychotherapy for depression,
  • 01:03:01but will have limited information about
  • 01:03:03the nature of that psychotherapy and
  • 01:03:06the duration of that psychotherapy
  • 01:03:08in Sherbrooke.
  • 01:03:09The access to psychotherapy
  • 01:03:11is relatively limited,
  • 01:03:12so we we don't think that's
  • 01:03:14going to be particularly common,
  • 01:03:15but certainly could be there
  • 01:03:18another way to look at that is.
  • 01:03:21You arguably there could be a direct
  • 01:03:24effect of the psychotherapy on the fetus,
  • 01:03:27but I think more likely it would be
  • 01:03:29an indirect effect through the mother
  • 01:03:31psychiatric symptoms, and so we will be.
  • 01:03:33We will be capturing us.
  • 01:03:36And we have one last
  • 01:03:38question from the audience.
  • 01:03:42Thank you Jonathan.
  • 01:03:43Loved your talk. Just wonderful.
  • 01:03:44The question is in terms of getting a
  • 01:03:48cause and the impact of SSRI exposure.
  • 01:03:51I'm wondering do you have any more
  • 01:03:53granular data or senior Sherbrooke study
  • 01:03:56in terms of the dosages
  • 01:03:58that the moms are getting?
  • 01:04:00Or maybe the
  • 01:04:01timing of the doses that might be able
  • 01:04:04to tell a little bit more about costs.
  • 01:04:07Yeah, absolutely so.
  • 01:04:09So timing, I think it's going to be
  • 01:04:11hard to to get at a. We will have.
  • 01:04:14We will have access to the medical
  • 01:04:16records and the pharmacy records
  • 01:04:18so we'll know what's prescribed.
  • 01:04:20Although the dose prescribed and
  • 01:04:22we'll know what's what was filled.
  • 01:04:25Uhm, and so we can we can,
  • 01:04:28you know from that we can calculate
  • 01:04:31the net exposure.
  • 01:04:32Will know if the doctor prescribed
  • 01:04:34it for morning intake versus
  • 01:04:36evening and take the extent to which
  • 01:04:38the patient follows that advice.
  • 01:04:40We won't be able to determine that.
  • 01:04:44You know another thing that
  • 01:04:45I I should mention,
  • 01:04:46which is somewhat tangential and
  • 01:04:48that's why I didn't bring it up
  • 01:04:51before is that we will also have
  • 01:04:53very a very extensive biorepository,
  • 01:04:57so act deliberately delivery will
  • 01:04:59be collecting placenta cord.
  • 01:05:02Blood during pregnancy will have
  • 01:05:04maternal blood, which if we wanted to,
  • 01:05:06for example,
  • 01:05:06we could test for SSRI levels
  • 01:05:08in the maternal blood.
  • 01:05:09It would be one snapshot,
  • 01:05:11but it would be at least some
  • 01:05:13quantification of of level.
  • 01:05:14Uhm, and then we'll also be looking at,
  • 01:05:17UM, some post Natal biospecimens as well.
  • 01:05:19Things like breast milk and and how
  • 01:05:22there are potential transmissions there.
  • 01:05:27Alright, perfect timing and that
  • 01:05:29we're at the top of the hour
  • 01:05:30so everybody can hear actually stand
  • 01:05:32up and walk like the old days work.
  • 01:05:34Just click, leave meeting and
  • 01:05:35then enter your next meeting.
  • 01:05:37But Jonathan, thank you very
  • 01:05:39much for spending your party afternoon with
  • 01:05:41us as an outstanding talk and
  • 01:05:42it's clear from the questions
  • 01:05:44everybody found it enjoyable,
  • 01:05:45engaging, so and personally it's
  • 01:05:46nice to see you and I'll look
  • 01:05:48forward to seeing you as a real 3
  • 01:05:50dimensional movie sometime soon.
  • 01:05:52Wonderful, thank you so much.
  • 01:05:53Really a pleasure.