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Functional dissection of prenatal drug effects on baby brain and behavioral development

Andrew Salzwedel1, Gang Chen2, Yuanyuan Chen1

  • 1Department of Biomedical Sciences, Imaging, and Biomedical Imaging Research Institute (BIRI), Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Human Brain Mapping
|August 12, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Prenatal drug exposure (PDE) impacts fetal brain development, affecting ~5% of functional connections. These brain changes correlate with behavioral outcomes by 3 months, highlighting the need for human-based research.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Biology
  • Human Embryology

Background:

  • Prenatal drug exposure (PDE) is a significant concern for fetal brain development, with long-term consequences.
  • Existing research heavily relies on animal models, limiting direct human data on PDE's neurodevelopmental effects.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the effects of six common prenatal drug exposures (nicotine, alcohol, SSRIs, marijuana, cocaine, opioids) on neonatal whole-brain functional organization in humans.
  • To compare the impact of PDE with other critical non-drug variables (gestational age, sex, birth weight, maternal depression).
  • To examine the behavioral implications of PDE-induced brain alterations.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a large sample of 133 human neonates.
  • Employed a novel linear mixed-effect model for intersubject variability analysis.
  • Assessed effects of six drugs and five non-drug variables on functional connections (FCs).

Main Results:

  • Approximately 5% of whole-brain functional connections were affected by PDE, comparable to non-drug variables.
  • PDE effects showed drug-specific spatial patterns, predominantly in higher-order brain regions.
  • Altered functional connections correlated significantly with 3-month behavioral outcomes, suggesting a mediation role in cognitive and language development.

Conclusions:

  • Prenatal drug exposure induces widespread and spatially biased alterations in neonatal brain functional organization.
  • These neurobiological changes are linked to significant behavioral outcomes in early development.
  • Findings underscore the importance of human-based research to understand PDE's long-term developmental impact.

Keywords:
functional connectivityin utero drug exposureintersubject variabilityneonatesresting-state fMRI

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