The intersection of stress, drug abuse and development.
Use or abuse of licit and illicit substances is often associated with environmental stress. Current clinical evidence clearly demonstrates neurobehavioral, somatic growth and developmental deficits in children born to drug-using mothers. However, the effects of environmental stress and its interaction with prenatal drug exposure on a child's development is unknown. Studies in pregnant animals under controlled conditions show drug-induced long-term alterations in brain structures and functions of the offspring. These cytoarchitecture alterations in the brain are often associated with perturbations in neurotransmitter systems that are intimately involved in the regulation of the stress responses. Similar abnormalities have been observed in the brains of animals exposed to other adverse exogenous (e.g., environmental stress) and/or endogenous (e.g., glucocorticoids) experiences during early life. The goal of this article is to: (1) provide evidence and a perspective that common neural systems are influenced during development both by perinatal drug exposure and early stress exposure; and (2) identify gaps and encourage new research examining the effects of early stress and perinatal drug exposure, in animal models, that would elucidate how stress- and drug-induced perturbations in neural systems influence later vulnerability to abused drugs in adult offspring.
Thadani
Pushpa V
PV
Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Research, National Institute on Drug Abuse, The Neuroscience Center, 6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 4282, MSC 9555, Bethesda, MD 20892-9555, USA. pt242@nih.gov
D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*