Cargando…

Structural, Metabolic, and Functional Brain Abnormalities as a Result of Prenatal Exposure to Drugs of Abuse: Evidence from Neuroimaging

Prenatal exposure to alcohol and stimulants negatively affects the developing trajectory of the central nervous system in many ways. Recent advances in neuroimaging methods have allowed researchers to study the structural, metabolic, and functional abnormalities resulting from prenatal exposure to d...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Roussotte, Florence, Soderberg, Lindsay, Sowell, Elizabeth
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Springer US 2010
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2988996/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20978945
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11065-010-9150-x
_version_ 1782192319030624256
author Roussotte, Florence
Soderberg, Lindsay
Sowell, Elizabeth
author_facet Roussotte, Florence
Soderberg, Lindsay
Sowell, Elizabeth
author_sort Roussotte, Florence
collection PubMed
description Prenatal exposure to alcohol and stimulants negatively affects the developing trajectory of the central nervous system in many ways. Recent advances in neuroimaging methods have allowed researchers to study the structural, metabolic, and functional abnormalities resulting from prenatal exposure to drugs of abuse in living human subjects. Here we review the neuroimaging literature of prenatal exposure to alcohol, cocaine, and methamphetamine. Neuroimaging studies of prenatal alcohol exposure have reported differences in the structure and metabolism of many brain systems, including in frontal, parietal, and temporal regions, in the cerebellum and basal ganglia, as well as in the white matter tracts that connect these brain regions. Functional imaging studies have identified significant differences in brain activation related to various cognitive domains as a result of prenatal alcohol exposure. The published literature of prenatal exposure to cocaine and methamphetamine is much smaller, but evidence is beginning to emerge suggesting that exposure to stimulant drugs in utero may be particularly toxic to dopamine-rich basal ganglia regions. Although the interpretation of such findings is somewhat limited by the problem of polysubstance abuse and by the difficulty of obtaining precise exposure histories in retrospective studies, such investigations provide important insights into the effects of drugs of abuse on the structure, function, and metabolism of the developing human brain. These insights may ultimately help clinicians develop better diagnostic tools and devise appropriate therapeutic interventions to improve the condition of children with prenatal exposure to drugs of abuse.
format Text
id pubmed-2988996
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2010
publisher Springer US
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-29889962010-12-15 Structural, Metabolic, and Functional Brain Abnormalities as a Result of Prenatal Exposure to Drugs of Abuse: Evidence from Neuroimaging Roussotte, Florence Soderberg, Lindsay Sowell, Elizabeth Neuropsychol Rev Review Prenatal exposure to alcohol and stimulants negatively affects the developing trajectory of the central nervous system in many ways. Recent advances in neuroimaging methods have allowed researchers to study the structural, metabolic, and functional abnormalities resulting from prenatal exposure to drugs of abuse in living human subjects. Here we review the neuroimaging literature of prenatal exposure to alcohol, cocaine, and methamphetamine. Neuroimaging studies of prenatal alcohol exposure have reported differences in the structure and metabolism of many brain systems, including in frontal, parietal, and temporal regions, in the cerebellum and basal ganglia, as well as in the white matter tracts that connect these brain regions. Functional imaging studies have identified significant differences in brain activation related to various cognitive domains as a result of prenatal alcohol exposure. The published literature of prenatal exposure to cocaine and methamphetamine is much smaller, but evidence is beginning to emerge suggesting that exposure to stimulant drugs in utero may be particularly toxic to dopamine-rich basal ganglia regions. Although the interpretation of such findings is somewhat limited by the problem of polysubstance abuse and by the difficulty of obtaining precise exposure histories in retrospective studies, such investigations provide important insights into the effects of drugs of abuse on the structure, function, and metabolism of the developing human brain. These insights may ultimately help clinicians develop better diagnostic tools and devise appropriate therapeutic interventions to improve the condition of children with prenatal exposure to drugs of abuse. Springer US 2010-10-28 2010 /pmc/articles/PMC2988996/ /pubmed/20978945 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11065-010-9150-x Text en © The Author(s) 2010 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
spellingShingle Review
Roussotte, Florence
Soderberg, Lindsay
Sowell, Elizabeth
Structural, Metabolic, and Functional Brain Abnormalities as a Result of Prenatal Exposure to Drugs of Abuse: Evidence from Neuroimaging
title Structural, Metabolic, and Functional Brain Abnormalities as a Result of Prenatal Exposure to Drugs of Abuse: Evidence from Neuroimaging
title_full Structural, Metabolic, and Functional Brain Abnormalities as a Result of Prenatal Exposure to Drugs of Abuse: Evidence from Neuroimaging
title_fullStr Structural, Metabolic, and Functional Brain Abnormalities as a Result of Prenatal Exposure to Drugs of Abuse: Evidence from Neuroimaging
title_full_unstemmed Structural, Metabolic, and Functional Brain Abnormalities as a Result of Prenatal Exposure to Drugs of Abuse: Evidence from Neuroimaging
title_short Structural, Metabolic, and Functional Brain Abnormalities as a Result of Prenatal Exposure to Drugs of Abuse: Evidence from Neuroimaging
title_sort structural, metabolic, and functional brain abnormalities as a result of prenatal exposure to drugs of abuse: evidence from neuroimaging
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2988996/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20978945
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11065-010-9150-x
work_keys_str_mv AT roussotteflorence structuralmetabolicandfunctionalbrainabnormalitiesasaresultofprenatalexposuretodrugsofabuseevidencefromneuroimaging
AT soderberglindsay structuralmetabolicandfunctionalbrainabnormalitiesasaresultofprenatalexposuretodrugsofabuseevidencefromneuroimaging
AT sowellelizabeth structuralmetabolicandfunctionalbrainabnormalitiesasaresultofprenatalexposuretodrugsofabuseevidencefromneuroimaging