ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: This systematic review aims to thoroughly examine the current understanding of the effect of maternal depression exposure on the executive functions of offspring. METHODS: Following the PRISMA statement, a comprehensive search for peer-reviewed cohort studies was performed on Pubmed, ScienceDirect, LILACS, PsychINFO, and SciELO. Study quality was assessed using the NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-sectional studies. The evidence was evaluated using the Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation. RESULTS: This review analyzed 33 cohort studies from different countries with a total of 38,981 participants. Twenty-four studies confirmed the hypothesis of the harmful effect of maternal depressive symptoms on the performance of children's executive functions. However, a high heterogeneity among studies was found, and meta-analysis was not feasible. Fetal programming, genetics, and parental practices have been identified as potential mechanisms that can affect the executive functions of children born to mothers who have experienced depressive symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest a negative association between maternal depressive symptoms and offspring executive functioning. Further studies on the effects of chronicity/severity of maternal symptoms and changes in executive functions in different sensitive periods are needed.
ABSTRACT
Affective and anxiety disorders are the most prevalent and incident psychiatric disorders worldwide. Therapeutic approaches to these disorders using non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) and analogous techniques have been extensively investigated. In this paper, we discuss the combination of NIBS and neurofeedback in closed-loop setups and its application for affective symptoms and disorders. For this, we first provide a rationale for this combination by presenting some of the main original findings of NIBS, with a primary focus on transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and neurofeedback, including protocols based on electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Then, we provide a scope review of studies combining real-time neurofeedback with NIBS protocols in the so-called closed-loop brain state-dependent neuromodulation (BSDS). Finally, we discuss the concomitant use of TMS and real-time functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) as a possible solution to the current limitations of BSDS-based protocols for affective and anxiety disorders.
