Zhihao Li1, Priya Santhanam1,
Claire D. Coles2, Mary Ellen Lynch2, Stephan Hamann3,
Xiaoping Hu1
1Biomedical Engineering, Emory Univ.
& Georgia Tech., Atlanta, GA, United States; 2Psychiatry and
behavioral Science, Emory Univ., Atlanta, GA, United States; 3Psychology,
Emory Univ., Atlanta, GA, United States
The
present fMRI study examined the interaction effect of prenatal cocaine
exposure (PCE) and development on brain activations associated with emotional
arousal, in adolescents. Comparing age 17 to 15, cortical responses elicited
by negative emotional stimuli are reduced in the controls but remain roughly
the same in the PCE adolescents. The present results suggest a long-term and
stable PCE effect on emotional arousal regulation.