Related Experiment Videos
Effects of prenatal substance exposure: altered maturation of visual evoked potentials
M S Scher1, G A Richardson, N Robles
1Developmental Neurophysiology Laboratory, Magee-Womens Hospital, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.
Insights
Prenatal substance exposure, including alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco, impacts infant visual development. Specific visual evoked potential (VEP) changes were linked to substance type and trimester of exposure, even with moderate use.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Toxicology
Background:
- Prenatal substance exposure is a significant concern for child development.
- Visual evoked potentials (VEPs) are sensitive indicators of visual pathway maturation.
- Understanding the specific effects of different substances and exposure timing is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of prenatal exposure to alcohol, marijuana, tobacco, and other illicit drugs on infant visual evoked potentials (VEPs).
- To determine if these effects are specific to the type of substance and the trimester of exposure.
- To assess VEP changes in offspring of mothers with moderate substance use during pregnancy.
Main Methods:
- Tested 74 children using binocular flash VEPs at birth and 1 month, and binocular pattern VEPs at 4, 8, and 18 months.
- Utilized regression analyses by trimester to assess independent effects of substance exposure.
- Controlled for maternal and infant variables including age, socioeconomic status, birthweight, and Dubowitz score.
Main Results:
- Specific VEP component changes were substance- and trimester-specific.
- First-trimester alcohol exposure correlated with prolonged P1 wave latencies at 1 month.
- Tobacco, marijuana, and other illicit drug use during specific trimesters were associated with prolonged P1 wave latencies at various infant ages.
Conclusions:
- Prenatal substance use, even moderate, can lead to maturational changes in infant VEPs.
- These neurodevelopmental effects on the visual system can occur without apparent neonatal behavioral disturbances.
- Findings highlight the importance of considering trimester-specific substance exposure in evaluating infant neurodevelopment.
Abstract:
We investigated the effects of prenatal substance use on visual evoked potentials (VEPs). Seventy-four children were tested at birth and 1 month of age with binocular flash VEPs and at 4, 8, and 18 months of age with binocular pattern VEPs. Regressions were run by trimester to assess the independent effects of substance exposure. Variables included in the regression model were alcohol, marijuana, tobacco, other drug use for each trimester, maternal age, education, income, race, marital status, infant sex, birthweight, and Dubowitz score. Changes in specific components of the binocular VEP were both substance- and trimester-specific. First trimester alcohol use was associated with prolonged P1 wave latencies at 1 month of age. Prolonged P1 wave latencies at birth and 18 months were associated with tobacco use during each of the three trimesters, at 1 and 18 months with third trimester marijuana use, and at 1 and 18 months with first trimester other illicit drug use. Although these women were moderate substance users during pregnancy, their offspring exhibited maturational changes in components of the VEP in the absence of neonatal behavioral disturbances.