Maternal physical activity during pregnancy has been shown to confer benefits on the brain functions of children. A recent study led by Prof. Sonata YAU, Member of the Mental Health Research Centre (MHRC), Associate Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, PolyU, explored whether maternal physical activity benefits offspring’s resilience against stress.
The research investigated the positive effects of maternal exercise during pregnancy on enhancing hippocampal synaptic plasticity and resilience to stress-induced depressive behaviour. In a mouse study, pregnant mothers that engaged in voluntary wheel running produced adult offspring with stronger hippocampal synaptic plasticity compared with those born to sedentary dams. Researchers found that maternal exercise enhanced long-term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampal dentate gyrus in offspring of both sexes. The offspring’s brains also showed higher levels of key synaptic and plasticity markers, as indicated by the increased expression brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and synaptic proteins. Most importantly, offspring from exercised dams showed less depression-like behaviour after exposed to chronic unpredictable stress.
Overall, the findings suggest maternal physical activity during pregnancy may promote offspring’s long-term stress resilience. The paper was published in the prestigious journal Scientific Reports (Nature) under the title “Maternal exercise enhances hippocampal plasticity and resilience against stress-induced depressive behaviors in adult offspring”.
Read the full research paper: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-48292-x
| Research Units | Mental Health Research Centre |
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