# The effects of maternal early life stress on perinatal hair cortisol concentration: Implications for infant cortisol and brain volume

> **NIH NIH R03** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $78,850

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Women’s exposure to early life stress (ELS) can have lasting adverse consequences for emotional, cognitive,
and biological functioning that extend into their child-bearing years. Emerging research suggests that the
negative effects of ELS can be transmitted across generations, beginning in the prenatal period. In this project,
we posit that mothers’ exposure to stress during their own childhood affects the neurodevelopment of their
offspring, first, by influencing the intrauterine endocrine milieu and, subsequently, through the process of
dyadic physiological synchrony. Specifically, we posit that early exposure to life stress affects the pre-
conception setpoint for the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, disrupting maternal levels and
trajectories of cortisol across pregnancy and altering fetal neurodevelopment. We posit further that in the
postnatal period infants continue to be affected by maternal HPA-axis dysregulation through concordance of
their own HPA-axis functioning with that of their mothers. In this application, we propose conduct secondary
analysis of banked samples of women’s hair obtained at three time-points: at mid-pregnancy, approximately 1
month after birth, and at infant age 6 months. From these samples, we will derive monthly levels of cortisol
production across pregnancy and the early postnatal period, enabling us to examine the effects of maternal
exposure to ELS on levels and trajectories of maternal hair cortisol concentration in the perinatal period and
the effects of this cortisol production on both their infants’ hair cortisol concentration and their infants’
hippocampus and amygdala volume at age 6 months. This project promises to yield critical and specific
insights, informing our understanding of maternal factors that affect child neurodevelopment.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9959166
- **Project number:** 1R03HD101714-01
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** IAN H GOTLIB
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $78,850
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-03-15 → 2022-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9959166

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9959166, The effects of maternal early life stress on perinatal hair cortisol concentration: Implications for infant cortisol and brain volume (1R03HD101714-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9959166. Licensed CC0.

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