The objective of the proposed research is to evaluate the long-term effects of maternal cocaine use on executive functioning (EF).
The specific aim i s to determine if, at 4-years of age, prenatal cocaine exposure is associated with decreased EF in exposed children. EF depends on a brain system, prefrontal cortex (PFC) that may be particularly vulnerable to the effects of cocaine during fetal development, and thus EF tasks are likely to be sensitive to persistent effects of early cocaine exposure. The outcome measures of interest will be performance on EF tasks which have demonstrated discriminant validity in assessing PFC functioning. The study sample will include 190 low SES children classified into heavy cocaine-exposed and non-exposed groups on the basis of urine/meconium screens and maternal self-report. Environmental risk, demographic, and non-cocaine drug exposure differences between exposure groups will be assessed and controlled for statistically. Results will be applied to a brain-based model of the specific cognitive vulnerabilities of cocaine-exposed children that may provide important convergent evidence for animal models of prenatal cocaine exposure, as well as, supporting modifications of assessment/intervention programs for cocaine-exposed children.
