How maternal stressful condition affects offspring's cognitive ability and behavior alteration? and what is the molecular mechanism involving this cognitive impairment?
There is quite a bit of literature out regarding the methylation processes of epigenetic changes. Offspring from stressed parental conditions (not necessarily maternal), are more likely to express negative heritable traits than offspring in normative conditions. The proteins gained or lost via methylation causes the expression or non-expression of heritable traits. Identifying whether you are inquiring about offspring in utero may lead to different conclusions.
Frances Champagne has published some very good information on epi genetics
Weaver, I. C., Cervoni, N., Champagne, F. A., D'Alessio, A. C., Sharma, S., Seckl, J. R., ... & Meaney, M. J. (2004). Epigenetic programming by maternal behavior. Nature neuroscience, 7(8), 847-854.
Pruessner, J. C., Champagne, F., Meaney, M. J., & Dagher, A. (2004). Dopamine release in response to a psychological stress in humans and its relationship to early life maternal care: a positron emission tomography study using [11C] raclopride. The Journal of Neuroscience, 24(11), 2825-2831.
Jack Shonkoff videos on the Harvard website of The Centre for the Developing Child are also very good.
Kavita Vedhara: a nice longitudinal study on Maternal Mood and Neuroendocrine Programming: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2826.2012.02309.x/abstract
Gitau et al 2001 report on the only study I can find, showing that the foetus has a functional Pituitary and Adrenal gland by 20 weeks gestation and a stress response independent of the mother. It seems clear however that the foetus is also reliant on the mothers stress responses right up to birth. The only other studies of the molecular mechanisms involved in foetal behavioural development are on other mammals (e.g. pigs, sheep and rats). Some information is also available from reports of foetal cardiac surgery which is not performed before midgestation. Using the concept of allostasis and an evolutionary approach, it would seem that the foetus has a significant load of experience, in addition to a genetic and epigenetic contribution, before it has any real cognitive ability. I would be very interested in any further information in this area.
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