Vishnubhotla Ramana V, Ahmad Sidra T, Zhao Yi, Radhakrishnan Rupa
Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
Brain Commun. 2024 Jan 8;6(2):fcae001. doi: 10.1093/braincomms/fcae001. eCollection 2024.
There has been an increase in the number of women using marijuana whilst pregnant. Previous studies have shown that children with prenatal marijuana exposure have developmental deficits in memory and decreased attentiveness. In this study, we assess whether prenatal marijuana exposure is associated with alterations in brain regional morphometry and functional and structural connectivity in adolescents. We downloaded behavioural scores and subject image files from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. A total of 178 anatomical and diffusion magnetic resonance imaging files (88 prenatal marijuana exposure and 90 age- and gender-matched controls) and 152 resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging files (76 prenatal marijuana exposure and 76 controls) were obtained. Behavioural metrics based on the parent-reported child behavioural checklist were also obtained for each subject. The associations of prenatal marijuana exposure with 17 subscales of the child behavioural checklist were calculated. We assessed differences in brain morphometry based on voxel-based and surface-based morphometry in adolescents with prenatal marijuana exposure versus controls. We also evaluated group differences in structural and functional connectivity in adolescents for region-to-region connectivity and graph theoretical metrics. Interactions of prenatal marijuana exposure and graph networks were assessed for impact on behavioural scores. Multiple comparison correction was performed as appropriate. Adolescents with prenatal marijuana exposure had greater abnormal or borderline child behavioural checklist scores in 9 out of 17 subscales. There were no significant differences in voxel- or surface-based morphometry, structural connectivity or functional connectivity between prenatal marijuana exposure and controls. However, there were significant differences in prenatal marijuana exposure-graph network interactions with respect to behavioural scores. There were three structural prenatal marijuana exposure-graph network interactions and seven functional prenatal marijuana exposure-graph network interactions that were significantly associated with behavioural scores. Whilst this study was not able to confirm anatomical or functional differences between prenatal marijuana exposure and unexposed pre-adolescent children, there were prenatal marijuana exposure-brain structural and functional graph network interactions that were significantly associated with behavioural scores. This suggests that altered brain networks may underlie behavioural outcomes in adolescents with prenatal marijuana exposure. More work needs to be conducted to better understand the prognostic value of brain structural and functional network measures in prenatal marijuana exposure.
孕期使用大麻的女性数量有所增加。先前的研究表明，产前接触大麻的儿童存在记忆发育缺陷和注意力下降的问题。在本研究中，我们评估产前接触大麻是否与青少年大脑区域形态测量以及功能和结构连接性的改变有关。我们从青少年大脑认知发展研究中下载了行为评分和受试者图像文件。共获得了178份解剖学和扩散磁共振成像文件（88份产前接触大麻组和90份年龄及性别匹配的对照组）以及152份静息态功能磁共振成像文件（76份产前接触大麻组和76份对照组）。还为每个受试者获取了基于家长报告的儿童行为清单的行为指标。计算了产前接触大麻与儿童行为清单的17个分量表之间的关联。我们基于体素形态测量和表面形态测量评估了产前接触大麻的青少年与对照组在大脑形态测量上的差异。我们还评估了青少年在区域间连接性和图论指标方面的结构和功能连接性的组间差异。评估了产前接触大麻与图网络的相互作用对行为评分的影响。进行了适当的多重比较校正。产前接触大麻的青少年在17个分量表中的9个中，有更高的异常或临界儿童行为清单评分。产前接触大麻组和对照组在基于体素或表面的形态测量、结构连接性或功能连接性方面没有显著差异。然而，产前接触大麻与图网络相互作用在行为评分方面存在显著差异。有三种结构上的产前接触大麻与图网络相互作用以及七种功能上的产前接触大麻与图网络相互作用与行为评分显著相关。虽然本研究无法证实产前接触大麻与未接触大麻的青春期前儿童之间在解剖学或功能上的差异，但存在产前接触大麻与大脑结构和功能图网络的相互作用与行为评分显著相关。这表明大脑网络的改变可能是产前接触大麻的青少年行为结果的基础。需要开展更多工作以更好地理解大脑结构和功能网络测量在产前接触大麻中的预后价值。
