Structural brain changes in prenatal methamphetami

Authors: Annerine Roos Gaby Jones Fleur M Howells Dan J Stein Kirsten A Donald

Publish Date: 2014/02/20

Volume: 29, Issue: 2, Pages: 341-349

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Abstract

The global use of methamphetamine MA has increased substantially in recent years but the effect of MA on brain structure in prenatally exposed children is understudied Here we aimed to investigate potential changes in brain volumes and cortical thickness of children with prenatal MAexposure compared to unexposed controls Eighteen 6year old children with MAexposure during pregnancy and 18 healthy controls matched for age gender and socioeconomic background underwent structural imaging Brain volumes and cortical thickness were assessed using Freesurfer and compared using ANOVA Left putamen volume was significantly increased and reduced cortical thickness was observed in the left hemisphere of the inferior parietal parsopercularis and precuneus areas of MAexposed children compared to controls Compared to control males prenatal MAexposed males had greater volumes in striatal and associated areas whereas MAexposed females predominantly had greater cortical thickness compared to control females In utero exposure to MA results in changes in the striatum of the developing child In addition changes within the striatal frontal and parietal areas are in part gender dependentThank you to Ali Alhamud and JeanPaul Fouche for their valuable input on brain imaging sequences and analyses and to Samantha Brooks for grammar editing of the manuscript Thank you to the funding agencies that supported this study including the Medical Research Council of South Africa the National Research Foundation and the Harry Crossley Foundation Thank you also to the Centre for High Performance Computing at Rosebank Cape Town who made the Freesurfer analyses possible

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