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Prenatal exposure to recreational drugs affects global motion perception in preschool children

Arijit Chakraborty1, Nicola S Anstice1, Robert J Jacobs1

  • 1School of Optometry and Vision Science, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand.

Scientific Reports
|November 20, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Prenatal alcohol exposure harms global motion perception, while marijuana exposure improves it in young children. Methamphetamine and nicotine showed no significant visual development effects.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Ophthalmology

Background:

  • Prenatal drug exposure is known to impact motor and cognitive development.
  • The effects on visual brain areas, particularly the dorsal extrastriate visual cortex, are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of prenatal recreational drug exposure on global motion perception.
  • To determine if specific drugs (methamphetamine, alcohol, nicotine, marijuana) differentially affect visual development.

Main Methods:

  • Assessed global motion perception in 145 children (4.5 years old) with varying prenatal drug exposures and 25 controls.
  • Verified maternal drug use via meconium analysis.
  • Measured visual acuity and stereoacuity to assess other visual functions.

Main Results:

  • Prenatal alcohol exposure impaired global motion perception.
  • Prenatal marijuana exposure significantly improved global motion perception.
  • Prenatal methamphetamine and nicotine exposure did not significantly affect visual functions.
  • Combined alcohol and marijuana exposure had no discernible effect.

Conclusions:

  • Prenatal drug exposure significantly influences visual development, specifically global motion perception.
  • The effects are drug-specific, with alcohol and marijuana showing opposing impacts.
  • Global motion perception is a sensitive indicator of neurodevelopmental effects from prenatal drug exposure.

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