Prenatal Cocaine Exposure and Prolonged Focus Attention

Abstract

In experimental models, prenatal cocaine exposure has been found to perturb monoaminergic development of systems implicated in modulating attention. To determine whether prenatal cocaine exposure affects infant attention, we assessed visual recognition memory and focused attention during free play. We enrolled at birth 380 infants, 113 cocaine exposed, using multiple biomarkers to assess drug exposure. Behavior was videotaped and coded off-line for sustained looking time (i.e. focused attention), banging and intrusion. Prenatal cocaine exposure was not associated with visual recognition memory, but was significantly associated with longer sustained looking times (average focused attention) at ages 6 months (p = 0.02) and 12 months (p = 0.04) in analyses that adjusted for variables, including maternal intelligence, education, depressive scores and other exposures (alcohol, tobacco and marijuana). Cocaine-exposed infants at age 12 months also spent significantly less time in banging activity (p = 0.02) after adjusting for confounding variables. This finding was not explained through cocaine effects on motor development, neurological findings or time spent in focused attention. Prenatal cocaine exposure was significantly associated with longer periods of sustained looking or focused attention in infancy, a finding that could interpreted as a measure of poor processing efficiency, or alternatively as precocious maturation of attentional systems. Either interpretation has implications for later cognitive development. Lower banging activity among cocaine exposed was not explained through cocaine effects on motor development or neurological findings, suggesting that activity level itself is diminished in these infants. Whether focused attention findings impact long term development awaits further study.

The development of face orienting mechanisms in infants at-risk for autism

“…For example, infants, who have a pattern of prolonged fixation time, rely more on local elements when processing visual stimuli [14,25,26]. Individual differences in looking time, i.e., ‘long vs. short lookers’ also predict later cognitive outcomes in typical infants [15] and ‘longer looking’ has been documented in other atypical populations such as preterm infants [57] or prenatal cocaine-exposed infants [17]. Specific effects of these attentional constraints on face processing have also been reported.…”

Prenatal IV Cocaine: Alterations in Auditory Information Processing

“…Problems with attentional processes have been documented over the past 15 years with several different paradigms, including computer-controlled continuous performance tasks (Richardson et al, 1996; Heffelfinger et al, 1997, 2002; Leech et al, 1999; Bandstra et al, 2001; Noland et al, 2005; Savage et al, 2005; Accornero et al, 2007; Chiriboga et al, 2009; Carmody et al, 2011). Given the myriad of correlated factors that often characterizes this population, as discussed above, preclinical studies are important in defining and characterizing the behavioral and neural basis(es) of alterations in attentional processes.…”

Review of Current Neuroimaging Studies of the Effects of Prenatal Drug Exposure: Brain Structure and Function

“…In contrast, the network is inhibited while performing tasks with high-cognitive demand and increased task difficulty [99,100]. Behaviorally, both prenatal cocaine and alcohol exposure are associated with early and persistent deficits in arousal regulation and attention deficits [101][102][103][104][105] and an increased risk for a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [106,107]. One interpretation of the results of these studies is that the dysregulation of arousal and attention, in part, explains other observable deficits in higher-cognitive function.…”