Maternal use of methamphetamines

One of the most critical times in the human lifespan is fetal development.  During gestation, there is a careful orchestration of a multitude of events leading to the creation of progeny.  However, fetal development occurs within the backdrop of the life of the mother.  During pregnancy, the mother establishes an “environment” in which the fetus matures.  While most mothers attempt to foster a nurturing environment, this positive agenda does not always occur.  What is too often the case, the environment established by the mother is fraught with deleterious effectors.  These include exposure to illicit and socially accepted drugs of abuse.  Our work is attempting to address how in utero exposure to three different drugs of abuse, caffeine, alcohol and methamphetamine, affects behavioral endpoints in the offspring.  In all cases, in utero exposure involved appropriate levels of drug exposure – alcohol equivalent to 1-2 drinks a day, caffeine equivalent to 1-2 cups of coffee a day, and a standard ramped methamphetamine exposure paradigm.  The drug effects were domain specific – 1) alcohol led to moderate cognitive impairment and decreased exploratory behavior, 2) caffeine led to increased activity, and 3) methamphetamine led to moderate cognitive impairment, increased antagonistic behavior, and decreased exploratory behavior. The ultimate goal of this work is to create awareness of the repercussions of maternal drug usage (both socially accepted and illegal), document the anatomical and behavioral ramifications, and establish effective means of intervention.