From Dec 2024: Hannah Stevens, M.D., Ph.D., on Autism, the Placenta & the Developing Brain

Originally released in December 2024, this conversation is being re-released as part of a selection of guest interviews from the podcast archive.

For today’s episode, Dr. Hanna Stevens joins me to discuss prenatal brain development and the complex relationship between the placenta, maternal environment, genetics, and the developing brain. Dr. Stevens received her MD and PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Illinois and leads the Psychiatry and Early Neurobiological Development Lab at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, where she is a Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and holder of the Ida P. Haller Chair.

We discuss the placenta, prenatal stress, serotonin, cortisol, immune function, genetics, and autism, exploring how events before birth may influence brain development and later behavior. This conversation offers a fascinating look inside the womb and at an increasingly important question: when and how do differences in neurodevelopment begin?

Dr. Hanna Stevens https://medicine.uiowa.edu/psychiatry/profile/hanna-stevens

Iowa Healthcare https://uihc.org/childrens/providers/hanna-e-stevens

Psychiatry and Early Neurobiological Development Lab (PENDL) https://stevens.lab.uiowa.edu

Publications https://stevens.lab.uiowa.edu/publications

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0:00 Dr. Hanna Stevens

2:00 Journey into Neuroscience and Psychiatry

8:13 Prenatal Development of Autism

14:02 The significance of NF-kB in Brain Development

23:10 Serotonin; Leukocytes as a window into our Biology; Cortisol

29:02 Steroid Hormones and Stress & Development

34:12 Methylation

40:00 Cell Proliferation & Migration in Fetal Development; Antioxidants

45:56 Oxidative Stress; Mitochondria; Antioxidants

48:30 Quantum Biology/Physics

** Me shaking my head at minute 48:50 is not intended at Dr. Stevens, but at myself because I tell myself not to keep going to the electrons and light for a Cause of Autism to guests

53:19 Future Research & Dorsal Striatum; Volume; Brain Development