Linda Chang1, Kenichi Oishi2, Jon Skranes3, Steve Buchthal1, Caroline Jiang1, Dan Alicata4, Antonette Hernandez1, Heather Johansen1, Christine Cloak1, Tricia Wright5, Lillian Fujimoto6, Susumu Mori2, Thomas Ernst1
1Dept of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, United States; 2Dept of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States; 3Dept of Laboratory Medicine, Childrens & Womens Health, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Tronheim, Oslo, Norway; 4Dept of Psychiatry, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, United States; 5Dept of Obstetric & Gynecology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, United States; 6Straub Mililani Clinic, Mililani, HI, United States
Prenatal stimulant-exposure, with nicotine and/or methamphetamine may be associated with abnormal brain development, although data in humans are limited. This study aims to evaluate whether the major white matter tracts and deep gray matter are abnormal in neonates with stimulant exposure (n=18) compared to unexposed healthy neonates (n=45). An automated atlas with LDDMM was used to assess diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) measures. Stimulant-exposed neonates showed lower FA in fornix and slower age-related decline in diffusion (axonal and radial) in the superior longitudinal fasciculus than unexposed infants. These findings suggest delayed brain myelination despite similar subject characteristics at time of scans.