The Effects of Prenatal Alcohol and Marijuana Exposure: Disturbances in Neonatal Sleep Cycling and Arousal

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Neonatal EEG and sleep findings are presented from a longitudinal study of the effects of maternal alcohol and marijuana use during pregnancy. Infant outcome has been examined relative to the trimester(s) of pregnancy during which use occurred. Disturbances in sleep cycling, motility, and arousals were noted that were both substance and trimester specific. Alcohol consumed during the first trimester of pregnancy was associated with disruptions in sleep and arousal, whereas marijuana use affected sleep and motility regardless of the trimester in which it was used. Although these findings are preliminary and based on a small sample of women exhibiting only moderate substance use during pregnancy, they do suggest that specific neurophysiological systems may be differentially affected by prenatal alcohol or marijuana exposure even in the absence of morphological abnormalities.

Sleep Architecture in Infants of Substance-Abusing Mothers

“…The significant differences between the two groups in LSP and TST, and the absence of significant differences in other sleep-wake variables, suggest that sleep system regulators must Sleep Architecture 11 be highly resilient and well organized. It may also suggest that fragmentation rather than sleepwake state organization may be more reflective of intrauterine substance exposure, supporting other studies by Rosett et al (1979), Scher et al (1988), andDahl (1998). The findings of this study are noteworthy, especially the integrity of sleep architecture, considering that offspring of substance abusing mothers are reported as being at risk for so many other problems and the association between prenatal drug exposure and neurodevelopmental vulnerability has been fairly well documented.…”

Estudo vídeo-polissonográfico em recém-nascidos de termo pequenos para a idade gestacional

“…O esperado seria a ocupação de 50% ou mais do registro em SA e no mínimo de 20% em S Q [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] .…”

Infant irritability: The impact of fetal alcohol exposure, maternal depressive symptoms, and low emotional support from the husband

“…Moderate levels of maternal drinking during pregnancy could not be reliably linked to morphological birth defects (i.e., facial malformations; Polygenis et al, 1998); however, there is evidence that even moderate levels of alcohol consumption may have an effect on cognitive development (Streissguth, Barr, & Sampson, 1990;Testa, Quigley, & Das Eiden, 2003) and infant irritability. Prenatally alcohol-exposed children were more irritable in the first weeks after birth (Coles & Platzmann, 1993) and had more sleeping problems during infancy (Scher et al, 1988). O'Connor, Sigman, and Kasari (1992) surveyed children of socially drinking mothers and found prenatal alcohol exposure to be related to negative affect at 1 year.…”

“…Researchers have proposed a link between prenatal alcohol exposure and infant irritability (Burd, Klug, Martsolf, & Kerbeshian 2003;Clifford, Campbell, Speechley, & Gorodzinsky, 2002;Coles & Platzman, 1993;Scher, Richardson, Coble, Day, & Stoffer, 1988) mediated by subtle neuronal dysfunctions (Kelly, Day, & Streissguth, 2000). In the most severe cases, maternal drinking leads to fetal alcohol syndrome, which is diagnosed when three criteria are met: (a) growth deficiency in both the prenatal and postnatal periods, (b) structural anomalities and/or functional deficits in the central nervous system associated with mental retardation and behavioral problems, and (c) a distinctive pattern of abnormal facial features (Sokol & Clarren, 1989).…”