Prenatal marijuana exposure impacts executive functioning into young adulthood: An fMRI study.

Understanding the potentially harmful long term consequences of prenatal marijuana exposure is important given the increase in number of pregnant women smoking marijuana to relieve morning sickness. Altered executive functioning is one area of research that has suggested negative consequences of prenatal marijuana exposure into adolescence. Investigating if these findings continue into young adulthood and exploring the neural basis of these effects was the purpose of this research.

Effects of low-level alcohol use on cognitive interference: an fMRI study in young adults.

Alcohol consumption is widely known to adversely affect human health. Its neuropathology is largely evident in the cerebellum and frontal lobes, particularly in the immature brains of adolescents and young adults. It may also have a long-lasting impact on executive functioning.

The long-term effects of prenatal nicotine exposure on verbal working memory: an fMRI study of young adults.

Background: Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the long-term effects of prenatal nicotine exposure on verbal working memory were investigated in young adults. Participants were members of the Ottawa Prenatal Prospective Study, a longitudinal study that collected a unique body of information on participants from infancy to young adulthood. This allowed for the measurement of an unprecedented number of potentially confounding drug exposure variables including: prenatal marijuana and alcohol exposure and current marijuana, nicotine and alcohol use.

The long-term effects of prenatal nicotine exposure on response inhibition: an fMRI study of young adults.

The long-term effects of prenatal nicotine exposure on response inhibition were investigated in young adults using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Participants were members of the Ottawa Prenatal Prospective Study, a longitudinal study that collected a unique body of information on participants from infancy to young adulthood, which allowed for the measurement of an unprecedented number of potentially confounding drug exposure variables including: prenatal marijuana and alcohol exposure and current marijuana, nicotine and alcohol use. Twelve young adults with prenatal nicotine exposure and 13 non-exposed controls performed a Go/No-Go task while fMRI blood oxygen level-dependent responses were examined.

Effects of marijuana on visuospatial working memory: an fMRI study in young adults.

Objectives: The effects of marijuana use on visuospatial working memory were investigated in 19-21-year-olds using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Methods: Participants were members of the Ottawa Prenatal Prospective Study, a longitudinal study that collected a unique body of information on participants from infancy to young adulthood including: prenatal drug history, detailed cognitive/behavioral performance, and current and past drug usage. This information allowed for the measurement of an unprecedented number of potentially confounding drug exposure variables including: prenatal marijuana, nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine exposure and offspring alcohol, marijuana, and nicotine use.

Effects of prenatal marijuana on visuospatial working memory: an fMRI study in young adults.

The long lasting neurophysiological effects of prenatal marijuana exposure on visuospatial working memory were investigated in 18-22 year olds using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The participants are members of the Ottawa Prenatal Prospective Study (OPPS), a longitudinal study that provides a unique body of information collected from each participant over 20 years, including prenatal drug history, detailed cognitive/behavioral performance from infancy to young adulthood, and current and past drug usage. This information allowed for the control of potentially confounding drug exposure variables in the statistical analyses.

Effects of prenatal cigarette and marijuana exposure on drug use among offspring.

The present study investigated whether maternal cigarette smoking and marijuana use during pregnancy were associated with an increased risk of initiation and daily/regular use of such substances among one hundred fifty-two 16- to 21-year-old adolescent offspring. The participants were from a low risk, predominately middle-class sample participating in an ongoing, longitudinal study. Findings indicated that offspring whose mothers reported smoking cigarettes during their pregnancy were more than twice as likely to have initiated cigarette smoking during adolescence than offspring of mothers who reported no smoking while pregnant.

Effects of prenatal marijuana on response inhibition: an fMRI study of young adults.

The neurophysiological effects of prenatal marijuana exposure on response inhibition were assessed in 18- to 22-year-olds. Thirty-one participants from the Ottawa Prenatal Prospective Study (OPPS) performed a blocked design Go/No-Go task while neural activity was imaged with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The OPPS is a longitudinal study that provides a unique body of information collected from each participant over 20 years, including prenatal drug history, detailed cognitive/behavioral performance from infancy to young adulthood, and current and past drug usage.

Differential effects on cognitive functioning in 13- to 16-year-olds prenatally exposed to cigarettes and marihuana.

Cognitive performance was examined in 145 thirteen- to sixteen-year-old adolescents for whom prenatal exposure to marihuana and cigarettes had been ascertained. The subjects were from a low-risk, predominantly middle-class sample participating in an ongoing, longitudinal study. The assessment battery included tests of general intelligence, achievement, memory, and aspects of executive functioning (EF).

Adolescents prenatally exposed to marijuana: examination of facets of complex behaviors and comparisons with the influence of in utero cigarettes.

For the purposes of this review, the impact of prenatal exposure to marijuana in adolescent offspring is discussed in the context that the effects may be apparent only when the multifaceted nature of complex behaviors is examined and that such exposure can be distinguished from those of prenatal exposure to cigarettes. The data are derived from adolescents participating in an on going longitudinal study for whom prenatal marijuana and cigarette exposure had been ascertained with the low-risk, predominantly middle-class sample that had been assessed since birth. In this report, cognitive functioning and visual perceptual performance in 9- to 12-year-olds and facets of attention in 13- to 16-year-olds are examined.