Neonatal infant EEG bursts are altered by prenatal maternal depression and serotonin selective reuptake inhibitor use

•Prenatal exposure to maternal depression alters characteristics of EEG bursting activity during infancy.•Exposure to serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during pregnancy also alters characteristics of EEG bursting activity during infancy, but differently than maternal depression.•Assessment of infant EEG bursting activity affords a new early life marker for changes in brain development caused by maternal depression and/or SSRI use. Increasingly, serotonin selective reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) medications are prescribed in pregnancy. These medications pass freely into the developing fetus but little is known about their effect on brain development in humans. In this study we determine if prenatal maternal depression and SSRI medication change the EEG infant delta brush bursts which are an early marker of normal brain maturation. We measured delta brush bursts from the term infants of three groups of mothers (controls (N = 52), depressed untreated (N = 15), and those taking serotonin SSRI medication (N = 10). High density EEGs were obtained during sleep at an average age of 44 weeks post conceptional age. We measured the rate of occurrence, brush amplitude, oscillation frequency and duration of the bursts. Compared to infants of control mothers, the parameters of delta brush bursts of the offspring of depressed and SSRI-using mothers are significantly altered: burst amplitude is decreased; the oscillation frequency increased, and the duration increased (SSRI only). These significant differences were found during both sleep states. Electrocortical bursting activity (i.e. delta brushes) is known to play an important role in early central nervous system (CNS) synaptic formation and function. Maternal depression or SSRI use may alter brain function in their offspring.