Does drug abuse beget drug abuse? Behavioral analysis of addiction liability in animal models of prenatal drug exposure

Prenatal exposure to drugs of abuse is the single largest preventable cause of developmental compromise of American children today. In the clinical population, it is difficult to determine the independent effects of gestational exposure to a single drug on brain development, in part due to the confo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Brain research. Developmental brain research 2003-12, Vol.147 (1), p.47-57
Main Authors: Malanga, C.J., Kosofsky, Barry E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Addiction
Adult
Animals
Behavior
Behavior, Animal - drug effects
Conditioned place-preference
Development
Drug abuse
Female
Humans
Intracranial self-stimulation
Pregnancy
Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects
Reward
Self-administration
Sensitization
Substance Abuse, Intravenous - physiopathology
Substance Abuse, Intravenous - psychology
Substance-Related Disorders - physiopathology
Substance-Related Disorders - psychology
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Summary:Prenatal exposure to drugs of abuse is the single largest preventable cause of developmental compromise of American children today. In the clinical population, it is difficult to determine the independent effects of gestational exposure to a single drug on brain development, in part due to the confounding effects of additional risk factors that are encountered in the substance-abusing population. The enormous clinical and societal problem of gestational toxicity of drugs of abuse, both legal and illegal, has driven the need to develop and investigate animal models of gestational drug exposure in which these variables can be controlled. More specifically, as clinical data are gathered suggesting an increased liability to substance abuse among children of drug-abusing mothers, a mechanistic understanding of the lasting effects of early drug exposure on the developing brain and the behavioral repertoire of the developing animal is crucial. In this review we summarize experimental animal research that investigates the role of drug exposure in utero on the functional development of specific brain circuits that are involved in the reinforcing effects of drugs of abuse, and on the behaviors that are mediated by these brain reward systems.
ISSN:0165-3806
DOI:10.1016/j.devbrainres.2003.09.019