Brain Connectivity in Infants with Prenatal Opioid Exposure

Do brains exposed to opioids have more or fewer connections? Do these pathways send information faster or more slowly that non-exposed brains? By studying infants of both types, researchers show how network connections in the brain are different within these two groups of infants.

Title: Global Brain Functional Network Connectivity in Infants With Prenatal Opioid Exposure

Published in Frontiers in Pediatrics, March 2022

Summary in Plain English:

The research team conducing this study began with the following knowledge; Babies exposed to opioids and other substances before birth are more likely to have problems with their behavior as they grow up. They reasoned that by taking pictures of the infant brains when they are still very young, they may be able to find out if there are any differences in how the brains are developed. Finding differences can help predict how the infants will behave in the future.

This study was designed to use special brain scans on babies that can detect changes in how their brains are connected compared to babies who were not exposed to opioids or substances before they were born. They included 23 babies who were exposed to opioids before birth and 29 babies who were not exposed to opioids. Pictures of their brains were taken using a special MRI when they were less than three months old.

The research team found four important brain network components that were different in babies exposed to opioids compared to the healthy ones. Among these four, two were related to the mother's mental health. Additionally, the way the brain's networks are connected is different in babies exposed to opioids compared to those who weren't.

The affected brain networks are located in various parts of the brain, including the front, sides, back, top, and insides, suggesting that substances taken by the mother during pregnancy can affect the entire developing brain. These brain networks included regions associated with different functions like paying attention, making decisions, processing rewards, and more. Two of the networks showed stronger connections within themselves in babies exposed to opioids, while two other networks had weaker connections.

In conclusion, the research found important changes in how different parts of the brains of babies exposed to opioids before birth communicate with each other. These changes were significant and differed from the brains of babies who were not exposed to opioids during pregnancy.

Many thanks to the authors of this article: Radhakrishnan R, Vishnubhotla RV, Zhao Y, Yan J, He B, Steinhardt N, Haas DM, Sokol GM and Sadhasivam S

The full report is accessible here: https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2022.847037