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Studies have shown children exposed to cocaine and other drugs before birth are generally
similar to other children in terms of overall behavior, I-Q scores and problem-solving abilities. But a new study is raising a cautionary note.
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University of Florida researchers have found the part of the brain responsible for making
decisions about how to behave seems to develop less quickly in adolescents exposed to multiple
drugs before birth. Using a new form of M-R-I imaging, they compared children ages ten to twelve-twenty-eight of whom had prenatal exposure to cocaine and other drugs and twenty-five of whom did not. Results revealed subtle differences in how the brain's frontal lobe formed. Drug-exposed children had less mature white matter development in this brain region, which is responsible for skills like planning and inhibition. They also did not perform as well on two mental tasks. One required them to look at a series of colors named on a page- but say the color ink used, not the color named on the page. They also had to complete an exercise alternating numbers and letters.
Dr. Tamara Warner / UF neonatology researcher
"In our study, the cocaine-exposed kids were a little less able to do both of those tasks. They named fewer colors in the time limit and they were slower doing the task where you have to shift between numbers and letters."
U-F doctors were quick to point out that children who had prenatal exposure to drugs still performed in the average range on I-Q and other measures. Still, they aren't sure how these differences might affect study participants once they reach their teen years, when they are likely to face increasing peer pressure and to confront tough decisions. Meanwhile, the role of prenatal exposure to legal drugs like nicotine and alcohol in child development is also a great concern, as abuse of these during pregnancy is far more common.
Dr. Tamara Warner / UF neonatology researcher
"I think it's important to remember that exposure to all drugs of abuse has negative effects, and that cocaine compared to the others is much less likely to have a negative effect."
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At the University of Florida Health Science Center, I'm Mike Garrison
