Maternal Cannabinoid Exposure and Brain Development: Changes in the Ontogeny of Dopaminergic Neurons

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Cannabinoids and other natural or synthetic psychoactive drugs are among the most important agents able to modify neural development in the unborn child when they are used by the mother during gestation and lactation periods. 1 A number of studies have established that these substances transferred from the mother to the developing fetus and neonate may lead to alterations in neural development during both prenatal and postnatal periods. This can produce long-term alterations in adult neurobiological processes controlled by different brain areas. 2–9 During development, psychotrophic drugs may interfere with the rigidly ordered temporal sequence of events that occur in the CNS, events which are known to be particularly vulnerable to the action of epigenetic factors. 10

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: