Longitudinal DTI in Young Children with Prenatal Methamphetamine Exposure: A 3 Year Follow-Up Study

Linda Chang¹, Kazim Gumus¹, Ashley Saito¹, Aaron Hoo¹, Alexandra Pritchett¹, Daniel Alicata¹, Christine Cloak¹, Thomas Ernst¹

Methamphetamine is a neurotoxic drug but its effects on brain development has not been well studied. 118 children were enrolled at ages 3-4 years (50 METH-exposed prenatally, 68 un-exposed controls); DTI was performed annually over 3 years. An automated-atlas approach with LDDMM in MRIStudio was used for data analyses. Despite similar physical characteristics (including head circumference), global cognitive function (on Stanford-Binet), and parental education, intelligence and mood, METH-exposed children had lower mean diffusion throughout and abnormal fractional anisotropy compared to un-exposed controls. These diffusion abnormalities persisted over the 3-year follow-up period. Further correlations will be performed with cognitive measurements.