Maternal Thyroid Function During Pregnancy and Early Adolescent Regional Differences in Cerebral Gray Matter Morphology
Authors' conclusion
Maternal thyroid function during early pregnancy is associated with offspring cerebral gray matter morphology in certain brain regions, specifically the frontal lobe. These findings expand on global brain morphology associations and support previous associations with behavioral outcomes.
Study context
- Population
- Women of the Generation R cohort with TSH and/or free T4 (FT4) assessed before 18 weeks of gestation, and offspring brain MRI at age 10 and/or 14 years
- Participants
- 2,426 mother–child pairs
- Exposure
- Gestational TSH, FT4 and (sub)clinical thyroid disease entities vs offspring regional gray matter morphology
- Outcome
- Local cortical surface area, thickness and subcortical volumes
- Follow-up
- Offspring age 10 and/or 14 years
Methodological detailspopulation-based, Generation R
- Population-based
- Generation R
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Inverse J-shaped association of TSH with cortical surface area, rostral middle frontal region: β [SE] for quadratic TSH
−0.005 [0.001] mm²
Linear TSH β [SE]
0.009
0.004
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Gyrification (post hoc)
- Children of hyperthyroid women had less gyrification in 3 cortical regions, mainly frontal
- −0.082 [0.022], −0.077 [0.020], −0.069 [0.020]
- Inverse J-shaped association of TSH with gyrification in a similar region
- Post hoc analyses
Subcortical volumes
- Inverse U-shaped association of FT4 with caudate volume: β [SE] for quadratic FT4
- −0.004 [0.001] SD
- Linear FT4 β [SE]
- 0.010 [0.010]
- TSH and FT4 were not associated with other subcortical volumes
Original publication
Maternal Thyroid Function During Pregnancy and Early Adolescent Regional Differences in Cerebral Gray Matter Morphology. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. Published 16 June 2025. doi:10.
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