TY - JOUR
T1 - Prenatal cocaine effects on brain structure in early infancy
AU - Grewen, Karen
AU - Burchinal, Margaret
AU - Vachet, Clement
AU - Gouttard, Sylvain
AU - Gilmore, John H.
AU - Lin, Weili
AU - Johns, Josephine
AU - Elam, Mala
AU - Gerig, Guido
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health : 1P01DA022446-01A1 (J.J.) K01DA019949-01A1 (K.G.), R01MH070890 (J.H.G.), Conte Center MH064065 (J.H.G.), NA-MIC Project U54EB005149 (G.G.), and Utah Science and Technology Initiative, University of Utah (G.G.). We thank the staff at the UNC Biomedical Research Imaging Center for technical assistance and indispensable advice, and Dianne Evans for invaluable help with implementation of the infant imaging protocol. We also thank participating families who have made this research possible. Conflict of interest Dr. Grewen, Dr. Gerig, Dr. Gilmore, Dr. Johns, Dr. Lin, Mr. Vachet, Mr. Gouttard, and Ms. Elam reported no biomedical financial interests or potential conflicts of interest. Dr. Burchinal reports receiving honoraria from Mathematica Policy Institute, Child Trends, First 5 LA, American Institute of Research, and the University of Lisbon.
PY - 2014/11/1
Y1 - 2014/11/1
N2 - Prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) is related to subtle deficits in cognitive and behavioral function in infancy, childhood and adolescence. Very little is known about the effects of in utero PCE on early brain development that may contribute to these impairments. The purpose of this study was to examine brain structural differences in infants with and without PCE. We conducted MRI scans of newborns (mean age. = 5. weeks) to determine cocaine's impact on early brain structural development. Subjects were three groups of infants: 33 with PCE co-morbid with other drugs, 46 drug-free controls and 40 with prenatal exposure to other drugs (nicotine, alcohol, marijuana, opiates, SSRIs) but without cocaine. Infants with PCE exhibited lesser total gray matter (GM) volume and greater total cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) volume compared with controls and infants with non-cocaine drug exposure. Analysis of regional volumes revealed that whole brain GM differences were driven primarily by lesser GM in prefrontal and frontal brain regions in infants with PCE, while more posterior regions (parietal, occipital) did not differ across groups. Greater CSF volumes in PCE infants were present in prefrontal, frontal and parietal but not occipital regions. Greatest differences (GM reduction, CSF enlargement) in PCE infants were observed in dorsal prefrontal cortex. Results suggest that PCE is associated with structural deficits in neonatal cortical gray matter, specifically in prefrontal and frontal regions involved in executive function and inhibitory control. Longitudinal study is required to determine whether these early differences persist and contribute to deficits in cognitive functions and enhanced risk for drug abuse seen at school age and in later life.
AB - Prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) is related to subtle deficits in cognitive and behavioral function in infancy, childhood and adolescence. Very little is known about the effects of in utero PCE on early brain development that may contribute to these impairments. The purpose of this study was to examine brain structural differences in infants with and without PCE. We conducted MRI scans of newborns (mean age. = 5. weeks) to determine cocaine's impact on early brain structural development. Subjects were three groups of infants: 33 with PCE co-morbid with other drugs, 46 drug-free controls and 40 with prenatal exposure to other drugs (nicotine, alcohol, marijuana, opiates, SSRIs) but without cocaine. Infants with PCE exhibited lesser total gray matter (GM) volume and greater total cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) volume compared with controls and infants with non-cocaine drug exposure. Analysis of regional volumes revealed that whole brain GM differences were driven primarily by lesser GM in prefrontal and frontal brain regions in infants with PCE, while more posterior regions (parietal, occipital) did not differ across groups. Greater CSF volumes in PCE infants were present in prefrontal, frontal and parietal but not occipital regions. Greatest differences (GM reduction, CSF enlargement) in PCE infants were observed in dorsal prefrontal cortex. Results suggest that PCE is associated with structural deficits in neonatal cortical gray matter, specifically in prefrontal and frontal regions involved in executive function and inhibitory control. Longitudinal study is required to determine whether these early differences persist and contribute to deficits in cognitive functions and enhanced risk for drug abuse seen at school age and in later life.
KW - CSF enlargement
KW - Cortical gray matter
KW - Infant brain development
KW - Magnetic resonance imaging
KW - Prenatal cocaine
KW - Prenatal substance abuse
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U2 - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.06.070
DO - 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.06.070
M3 - Article
C2 - 24999039
AN - SCOPUS:84904726485
SN - 1053-8119
VL - 101
SP - 114
EP - 123
JO - NeuroImage
JF - NeuroImage
ER -