Longitudinal changes of amygdala functional connectivity in adolescents prenatally exposed to cocaine

• Authors: Zhihao Li, Emory University; Kaikai Lei, Shenzhen University; Claire Coles, Emory University; Mary Lynch, Emory University; Xiaoping Hu, Emory University
• Journal Title: Drug and Alcohol Dependence
• Volume: Volume 200
• Publisher: Elsevier Ireland Ltd. | 2019-07-01, Pages 50-58
• Type of Work: Article | Post-print: After Peer Review
• Publisher DOI: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.03.007
• Subjects: Psychology, Social; Sociology, Social Structure and Development; Health Sciences, Public Health; Engineering, Biomedical
• Keywords: Science & Technology; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Substance Abuse; Psychiatry; Prenatal cocaine exposure; Adolescent; Longitudinal design; Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging; Amygdala; Functional connectivity; Default mode; Sustained attention; Response inhibition; Substance exposure; Neural systems; Drug exposure; Children; Brain; Reactivity; Behavior

Abstract

Background: Prenatal cocaine exposure (PCE) is associated with arousal dysregulation, but interactions between exposure and age are rarely investigated directly with longitudinal study designs. Our previous study had examined task-elicited emotional arousal and noted persistently high amygdala activations in the development of adolescents with PCE. However, while externally imposed emotional arousal could be considered a “state” effect depending on specific task stimuli, it is still unclear whether similar developmental alterations extend to intrinsic functional connectivity (FC), reflecting more of a “trait” effect. Methods: We used a longitudinal design and analyzed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data acquired twice from 25 adolescents with PCE and 16 non-exposed controls. Both groups were each scanned first at the mean age of 14.3 and then again at 16.6 years. Seeding in bilateral amygdalae and comparing the 2nd scan with the 1st, we examined the interaction effect between PCE and age on FCs in the emotional network. Results: Compared with the younger age, we observed a generally decreased FC in the emotional network of the control group at the older age, but these FCs were generally increased at the older age in this same network of the PCE group. Additionally, this interaction effect of exposure by age in the right fusiform was positively correlated with the emotional interference imposed by external task stimuli. Conclusions: These results provided additional data directly characterizing developmental changes in the emotional network of adolescents with PCE, complementing and extending the notion of a PCE-associated long-term teratogenic effect on arousal regulation.