Steven Buchthal1, Thomas Ernst, Lynn M. Anderson1, Christine Cloak1, Riley Kitamura1, Linda Chang1
1Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA
Proton Spectroscopy was used to assay brain biochemistry in neonates exposed in utero to methamphetamine and/or nicotine. We measured the concentrations of NAA, Cr, Cho, Myo-I and Glx in five regions of non-sedated sleeping infants. The stimulant-exposed infants had 21% more Myo-I in their motor track than control infants, p<.0001. NAA, Cr and Glx showed correlations with age in all regions. Myo-I showed a correlation with age only in the motor track where stimulant-exposed infants tended to have higher levels (p=0.06). The presence of prenatal stimulants led to a significant slowing of NAA accumulation in the frontal gray region (p=0.02). These data suggest slower or abnormal brain development in infants exposed to stimulants in utero.