COGNITIVE EFFECTS OF DEVELOPMENTAL COCAINE EXPOSURE

该项目的目标是确定母亲是否使用可卡因 在后代中产生持久的认知功能障碍，并且应该 对损伤进行观察，以确定功能障碍的特异性。 示例：1检查了孕期暴露的影响，使用的剂量为 模型相对大量的人类可卡因使用，但不会产生增长 发育迟缓或畸胎。包括阳性对照组，以便 即使可卡因相关的功能障碍不是 观察到的。如果观察到认知变化，第二个实验 将研究在同一时期内较低剂量的影响 发展。妊娠与新生儿联合应用对认知功能的影响 可卡因暴露包括相应的发育时期 人类怀孕的第三个月。产前和新生儿吸食可卡因 在大鼠体内按所建议的剂量和给药途径进行暴露 在这里，在与学习有关的神经系统中产生持久的变化 和记忆过程。这项拟议的研究旨在阐明 由此产生的认知效果。 认知测量旨在挖掘特定的功能障碍区域 这是由于人类的发育障碍造成的。索引： 学习迁移和注意力功能包括在内，如 这些区域的功能障碍被认为是精神发育迟缓的首要因素。 和注意力缺陷多动障碍。事实是 具体的认知功能将被评估，这提供了几个 好处，包括：(1)增强了选择敏感对象的能力 评估接触可卡因的儿童时的认知测试；以及(2) 促进将任何观察到的功能障碍与潜在的功能障碍联系起来 神经损伤。本提案有两个方面的设计 为实现后一目标迈出第一步。第一, 注意力分散测试中包含的咪唑克生挑战将 对中枢去甲肾上腺素能系统的潜在差异进行测试 以及评估一种可能的治疗策略。第二，如果经久不衰 在这些研究中检测到认知功能障碍，这是 动物将在几个中心接受功能改变的检查 神经系统，使用定量脱氧葡萄糖放射自显影 方法。这些分析将允许将长期变化与 具有特定类型的持久认知的特定神经元系统 功能障碍。

The goals of this project are to determine if maternal cocaine use produces enduring cognitive dysfunction in the offspring and, should impairment be observed, to determine the specificity of the dysfunction. Expt. 1 examines the effects of gestational exposure, using doses that model relatively heavy human cocaine use but do not produce growth retardation or terata. Positive control groups are included so that conclusions can be drawn even if cocaine-related dysfunction is not observed. If cognitive alterations are observed, the second experiment will examine the effects of lower doses during this same period of development. If cognitive effects of combined gestational and neonatal cocaine exposure to include the period of development corresponding to the third trimester in humans. Both prenatal and neonatal cocaine exposure in the rat, at the doses and routes of administration proposed here, produce enduring changes in neuronal systems implicated in learning and memory processes. The proposed research is designed to elucidate the resulting cognitive effects. The cognitive measures are designed to tap specific areas of dysfunction that result from developmental disturbances in humans. Indices of learning transfer and attentional functioning are included, as dysfunction in these areas is considered paramount in mental retardation and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, respectively. The fact that specific cognitive functions will be assessed offers several benefits, including: (1) an enhanced ability to select sensitive cognitive tests when assessing cocaine-exposed children; and (2) a facilitation of efforts to relate any observed dysfunction to underlying neurological damage. Two aspects of the present proposal are designed to provide a first step toward attainment of this latter goal. First, the idazoxan challenge included in the test of distractibility will provide a test of underlying differences in central noradrenergic systems as well as assess a possible therapeutic strategy. Second, if enduring cognitive dysfunction is detected in these studies, a subset of the animals will be examined for functional alterations in several central neuronal systems, using the quantified deoxyglucose autoradiographic method. These analyses would permit correlation of enduring changes in particular neuronal systems with specific types of lasting cognitive dysfunction.