The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, The Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA.
The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, The Del Monte Institute for Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, NY, 14642, USA.
Neuropharmacology. 2021 Mar 15;186:108479. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2021.108479. Epub 2021 Jan 30.
Caffeine, a very widely used and potent neuromodulator, easily crosses the placental barrier, but relatively little is known about the long-term impact of gestational caffeine exposure (GCE) on neurodevelopment. Here, we leverage magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, collected from a very large sample of 9157 children, aged 9-10 years, as part of the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD ®) study, to investigate brain structural outcomes at 27 major fiber tracts as a function of GCE. Significant relationships between GCE and fractional anisotropy (FA) measures in the inferior fronto-occipito fasciculus and corticospinal tract of the left hemisphere (IFOF-LH; CST-LH) were detected via mixed effects binomial regression. We further investigated the interaction between these fiber tracts, GCE, cognitive measures (working memory, task efficiency), and psychopathology measures (externalization, internalization, somatization, and neurodevelopment). GCE was associated with poorer outcomes on all measures of psychopathology but had negligible effect on cognitive measures. Higher FA values in both fiber tracts were associated with decreased neurodevelopmental problems and improved performance on both cognitive tasks. We also identified a decreased association between FA in the CST-LH and task efficiency in the GCE group. These findings suggest that GCE can lead to future neurodevelopmental complications and that this occurs, in part, through alteration of the microstructure of critical fiber tracts such as the IFOF-LH and CST-LH. These data suggest that current guidelines regarding limiting caffeine intake during pregnancy may require some recalibration.
咖啡因是一种非常广泛使用且有效的神经调节剂，很容易穿过胎盘屏障，但关于妊娠期咖啡因暴露（GCE）对神经发育的长期影响，人们知之甚少。在这里，我们利用磁共振成像（MRI）数据，这些数据来自于一个非常大的样本，即 9157 名年龄在 9-10 岁的儿童，作为青少年大脑与认知发展（ABCD ®）研究的一部分，来研究 27 条主要纤维束的脑结构结果与 GCE 的关系。通过混合效应二项式回归，发现 GCE 与左侧额枕下束和皮质脊髓束的各向异性分数（FA）测量值之间存在显著关系。我们进一步研究了这些纤维束、GCE、认知测量（工作记忆、任务效率）和精神病理学测量（外化、内化、躯体化和神经发育）之间的相互作用。GCE 与所有精神病理学测量的结果较差有关，但对认知测量的影响可以忽略不计。这两条纤维束的 FA 值较高与神经发育问题减少和认知任务表现提高有关。我们还发现，在 GCE 组中，皮质脊髓束的 FA 值与任务效率之间的相关性降低。这些发现表明，GCE 可能导致未来的神经发育并发症，而且这部分是通过改变关键纤维束的微观结构，如左侧额枕下束和皮质脊髓束来实现的。这些数据表明，目前关于限制怀孕期间咖啡因摄入的指南可能需要一些调整。
