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Structural brain changes in prenatal methamphetamine-exposed children

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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 MA-exposure compared to unexposed controls. Eighteen 6-year old children with MA-exposure during pregnancy and 18 healthy controls matched for age, gender and socio-economic 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 MA-exposed children compared to controls. Compared to control males, prenatal MA-exposed males had greater volumes in striatal and associated areas, whereas MA-exposed 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 dependent.

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Acknowledgments

Thank you to Ali Alhamud and Jean-Paul 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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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MRC Unit on Anxiety & Stress Disorders, Department of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University, P.O. Box 19063, Tygerberg, 7505, Cape Town, South Africa

    Annerine Roos, Gaby Jones & Dan J. Stein

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Fleur M. Howells

  3. Division of Developmental Paediatrics, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Kirsten A. Donald

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  1. Annerine Roos
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  2. Gaby Jones
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Correspondence to Annerine Roos.

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Roos, A., Jones, G., Howells, F.M. et al. Structural brain changes in prenatal methamphetamine-exposed children. Metab Brain Dis 29, 341–349 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11011-014-9500-0

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