Cognitive and Motor Outcomes of Cocaine-Exposed Infants

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Abstract
Maternal use of cocaine during pregnancy remains a significant and enduring public health problem, particularly in urban areas of the United States and among women of low socioeconomic status.1 An estimated 1 million children have been born after fetal cocaine exposure since the mid-1980s, when the so-called crack epidemic emerged with the availability of a cheap, potent, smokable form of cocaine.2 Cocaine has effects on monoaminergic neurotransmitter systems important for the development of neuronal circuitry and human learning.3-5 A growing body of research documents relationships between prenatal cocaine exposure and prematurity,6,7 low birth weight,8 microcephaly,9,10 and newborn behavioral abnormalities,11,12 which has raised concerns regarding long-term cognitive and developmental outcomes.