英国的一项新研究显示，婴儿的出生重量与日后大脑活动模式有关。这一发现有助于分析与此相关的一些精神病学课题。
英国南安普敦大学等机构的研究人员在美国在线学术刊物《公共科学图书馆—综合》（PLoS ONE）上报告说，他们对140名8岁到9岁的英国儿童进行了大脑活动测试，同时测量他们双耳鼓膜的温度变化，这可以反映出左右两个大脑半球的供血状况以及相应的大脑活动模式。结果显示，那些出生时体重较轻的儿童，其大脑右半球往往比左半球更为活跃。
研究人员亚历山大·琼斯说，这是首次发现婴儿出生重量，也就是出生前的发育状况与多年后的大脑活动模式之间存在关联。
他解释说，婴儿在出生前的发育取决于母亲怀孕时的生理和心理状况。如果母亲营养不足或是面临压力，往往会导致婴儿出生时体重偏轻，这可能导致婴儿大脑的左右半球难以同步发育，最终导致大脑右半球比左半球更为活跃。
曾有研究显示，大脑右半球比左半球更为活跃的模式，可能与抑郁症等精神疾病有关。因此，本次研究将有助于探索这些精神疾病与胎儿期发育状况之间的关系。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原文出处：
PLoS ONE 6(2): e17071. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017071
Evidence for Developmental Programming of Cerebral Laterality in Humans
Alexander Jones1*, Clive Osmond2, Keith M. Godfrey2,3, David I. W. Phillips2
Adverse fetal environments are associated with depression, reduced cognitive ability and increased stress responsiveness in later life, but underlying mechanisms are unknown. Environmental pressures on the fetus, resulting from variations in placental function and maternal nutrition, health and stress might alter neurodevelopment, promoting the development of some brain regions over others. As asymmetry of cerebral activity, with greater right hemisphere activity, has been associated with psychopathology, we hypothesized that regional specialization during fetal life might be reflected persistently in the relative activity of the cerebral hemispheres. We tested this hypothesis in 140 healthy 8–9 year-old children, using tympanic membrane temperature to assess relative blood flow to the cerebral hemispheres at rest and following psychosocial stress (Trier Social Stress Test for Children). Their birth weight and placental weight had already been measured when their mothers took part in a previous study of pregnancy outcomes. We found that children who had a smaller weight at birth had evidence of greater blood flow to the right hemisphere than to the left hemisphere (r = ?.09, P = .29 at rest; r = ?.18, P = .04 following stress). This finding was strengthened if the children had a relatively low birth weight for their placental weight (r = ?.17, P = .05 at rest; r = ?.31, P = .0005 following stress). Our findings suggest that lateralization of cerebral activity is influenced persistently by early developmental experiences, with possible consequences for long-term neurocognitive function.
