Prenatal Drug Exposure: Effects on the Adolescent Brain and Behavior Development
Condition: Drug Abuse; Prenatal Drug Exposure
MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      Background:

      - Recent research has suggested that prenatal exposure to drugs may affect specific brain
      processes, including working memory, stress response, and decision making. However, most of
      the research on the effects of prenatal drug exposure in humans has been conducted early in
      life, and very little is known about effects of prenatal drug exposure during the crucial
      brain development period that takes place during puberty and adolescence. The biological and
      psychological changes associated with puberty may increase adolescents' sensitivity to
      prenatal substance exposure. Researchers are interested in using functional magnetic
      resonance imaging (fMRI) scans to study brain function and learn more about the effects of
      prenatal drug exposure on adolescents.

      Objectives:

      - To examine the effects of prenatal substance exposure on working memory, decision making,
      and normal brain activity in adolescents.

      Eligibility:

      - Adolescents between 12 and 17 years of age who are enrolled in a larger follow-up study of
      children exposed to drugs in utero.

      Design:

        -  The study will involve a single outpatient session with two fMRI scans that will test
           working memory and decision-making processes.

        -  Participants will have brief medical history, a physical examination, and a urine test
           for drugs of abuse.

        -  Participants will then be trained on the working memory and decision-making tasks before
           having an initial MRI scan to provide a baseline reading.

        -  The fMRI scans will take 40 to 45 minutes each, and participants will have break in
           between as needed.
    

Detailed description: 
      Objective- To use fMRI to compare brain activity at rest and during working memory and
      decision making tasks in normal children and in children exposed in utero to drugs of abuse.

      Study population- All participants will be 12-17 year-olds enrolled in an ongoing
      longitudinal follow up study of children exposed to drugs of abuse in utero funded by NIH. A
      subgroup of this study cohort will be invited to participate based on added criteria needed
      for scanning studies, such as absence of metal in the body, no significant CNS disease, and
      ability to tolerate the scanning environment.

      Design- Participants will undergo fMRI scans while performing a working memory task, a
      decision making task and at rest. Data from participants in the current study will be
      combined with those from a previous study (NIDA protocol 417) which now reside in our
      repository protocol, 8002.

      Outcome measures- The primary outcome measures will be the difference in BOLD fMRI activation
      between drug-exposed participants and those without prenatal exposure to drugs of abuse.
    

Time perspective: Other
Keywords: fMRI; Prenatal Drug Exposure; Decision Making; Working Memory; Vulnerability