Prenatal meth exposure associated with brain abnormalities

March, 2010

An imaging study has revealed that children (aged 5-15) whose mothers abused methamphetamine and alcohol during pregnancy had structural abnormalities in the brain that were more severe than those seen in children whose mothers abused alcohol alone.

An imaging study has revealed that children (aged 5-15) whose mothers abused methamphetamine and alcohol during pregnancy had structural abnormalities in the brain that were more severe than those seen in children whose mothers abused alcohol alone. In particular, the striatal region was significantly smaller, and within the group, size of the caudate correlated negatively with IQ. Limbic structures, in particularly the cingulate cortex and the right inferior frontal gyrus, were significantly bigger. The striatal and limbic structures are also known to be particularly affected in adult methamphetamine abusers.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-03/uoc--rib031610.php http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-03/sfn-bai031210.php

Reference:

[298] Sowell, E. R., Leow A. D., Bookheimer S. Y., Smith L. M., O'Connor M. J., Kan E., et al.
(2010). Differentiating Prenatal Exposure to Methamphetamine and Alcohol versus Alcohol and Not Methamphetamine using Tensor-Based Brain Morphometry and Discriminant Analysis.
J. Neurosci.. 30(11), 3876 - 3885.

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