---
title: "Psych News Alert: Dietary Supplement During Pregnancy Could Reduce Risk of Schizophrenia"
description: A dietary supplement known as choline, when given to pregnant women, could help diminish the risk of brain abnormalities associated with sch...
image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/pregnant-womaF_56016061-Jun-24-2025-03-22-20-6913-PM.gif
---

 6/24/24 11:16 AM

# Dietary Supplement During Pregnancy Could Reduce Risk of Schizophrenia

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| --- | --- |

A dietary supplement known as choline, when given to pregnant women, could help diminish the risk of brain abnormalities associated with schizophrenia in offspring, according to a report released online today in *AJP in Advance*.

If the findings are replicated, it is possible that choline supplementation during pregnancy might serve as a broad public health measure to prevent schizophrenia, in the same way that folic acid today is used to help prevent birth defects. Choline has been shown to activate receptors in the brain that facilitate development of “cerebral inhibition,” a term for faculties—such as sensory gaiting and attention—that help the brain manage and organize incoming sensory stimuli and that are deficient in schizophrenia.

In the study, 46 pregnant women were randomized in the second trimester of pregnancy to receive a dietary supplement of phosphatidylcholine and 47 women to receive placebo. Seventy-six percent of the infants whose mothers received choline supplementation were found to have intact cerebral inhibition according to a electrophysiological test, compared with just 43 percent of the infants whose mothers got placebo. Moreover, a genotype associated with schizophrenia was correlated with diminished cerebral inhibition in the placebo-group, but not in the choline group.

*AJP Editor* and senior author of the study Robert Freedman, M.D., told *Psychiatric News, *“The hypothesis that improving prenatal brain development might decrease the risk of developing schizophrenia later in life merges decades of clinical observation of infants who later developed schizophrenia with recent findings that many genes that increase risk for schizophrenia have roles in fetal brain development."

The study, “Perinatal Choline Effects on Neonatal Pathophysiology Related to Later Schizophrenia Risk,” can be accessed [here](http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/Article.aspx?ArticleID=1557658).

(Image: Shutterstock/S.Borisov)

[schizophrenia](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/schizophrenia), [prevention](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/prevention), [pregnancy](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/pregnancy), [choline](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/choline)

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[schizophrenia](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/schizophrenia), [folic acid](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/folic-acid), [ADHD](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/adhd), [prenatal supplements](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/prenatal-supplements), [ajp in advance](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/ajp-in-advance), [nutrients](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/nutrients), [phosphatidylcholine](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/phosphatidylcholine), [mental health risks](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/mental-health-risks), [Robert Freedman](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/robert-freedman), [omega-3 fatty acids](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/omega-3-fatty-acids), [vitamins D and A](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/vitamins-d-and-a)

## [Review Examines Evidence to Support Use of Prenatal Supplements to Prevent Mental Illness](https://alert.psychnews.org/2018/03/review-examines-evidence-to-support-use.html)

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 6/24/24 11:16 AM

Previous studies suggest that certain prenatal supplements can enhance fetal brain development, but...

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[![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/pregnant_woman_hospital_iStock-951855948-Jun-24-2025-03-46-01-9337-PM.jpg?height=200&name=pregnant_woman_hospital_iStock-951855948-Jun-24-2025-03-46-01-9337-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2020/06/prenatal-choline-supplements-may.html)

[schizophrenia](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/schizophrenia), [ADHD](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/adhd), [prenatal supplements](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/prenatal-supplements), [Robert Freedman](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/robert-freedman), [autism](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/autism), [Journal of Psychiatric Research](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/journal-of-psychiatric-research), [COVID-19](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/covid-19), [choline](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/choline), [infections](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/infections), [Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/infant-behavior-questionnaire-revised), [infant behavior](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/infant-behavior)

## [Prenatal Choline Supplements May Protect Offspring if Mother Contracts Viral Infection](https://alert.psychnews.org/2020/06/prenatal-choline-supplements-may.html)

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 6/24/24 11:16 AM

Taking choline supplements during pregnancy may reduce the negative impact of viral respiratory...

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[diet and internalizing problems](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/diet-and-internalizing-problems), [diet and mental health](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/diet-and-mental-health), [diet and externalizing problems](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/diet-and-externalizing-problems)

## [Poor Diet Can Take Toll on Children's Mental Health, Study Finds](https://alert.psychnews.org/2013/08/poor-diet-can-take-toll-on-children.html)

![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) 

 6/24/24 11:16 AM

An unhealthy diet during pregnancy and the early years of a child's life can adversely affect that...

[ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2013/08/poor-diet-can-take-toll-on-children.html)

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