Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39286039›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in integrative neuroscience2024

Prenatal tobacco and alcohol exposure, white matter microstructure, and early language skills in toddlers from a South African birth cohort.

Chloe Scholten, Mohammad Ghasoub, Bryce Geeraert, Shantanu Joshi, Catherine J Wedderburn, Annerine Roos, Sivenesi Subramoney, Nadia Hoffman, Katherine Narr, Roger Woods and 4 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in integrative neuroscience, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Chloe ScholtenHotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Mohammad GhasoubHotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Bryce GeeraertHotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Shantanu JoshiDepartment of Neurology, Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
Catherine J WedderburnDivision of Developmental Paediatrics, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross Memorial Children's Hospital, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Annerine RoosNeuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Sivenesi SubramoneyDivision of Developmental Paediatrics, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross Memorial Children's Hospital, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Nadia HoffmanDepartment of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Katherine NarrDepartment of Neurology, Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
Roger WoodsDepartment of Neurology, Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States.
Heather J ZarDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Dan J SteinNeuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Kirsten DonaldDivision of Developmental Paediatrics, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross Memorial Children's Hospital, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Catherine LebelHotchkiss Brain Institute, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: Tobacco and alcohol are the two most common substances used during pregnancy, and both can disrupt neurodevelopment, resulting in cognitive and behavioral deficits including language difficulties. Previous studies show that children with prenatal substance exposure exhibit microstructural alterations in major white matter pathways, though few studies have investigated the impact of prenatal substance exposure on white matter microstructure and language skills during the toddler years. Methods: In this study, 93 children (34 exposed to alcohol and/or tobacco) aged 23 years from the Drakenstein Child Health Study, South Africa, completed Expressive and Receptive Communication assessments from the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (BSID-III) and underwent diffusion MRI scans. Diffusion images were preprocessed, and 11 major white matter tracts were isolated. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) were extracted for each white matter tract. Linear regression was used to examine differences between the tobacco/alcohol exposed group and unexposed controls for FA, MD, and language scores, as well as relationships between brain metrics and language. There were no significant group differences in language scores or FA. Results: Children with alcohol or tobacco exposure had lower average MD in the splenium of the corpus callosum compared to unexposed controls. Significant interactions between prenatal substance exposure and language scores were seen in 7 tracts but did not survive multiple comparisons correction. Discussion: Our findings show that prenatal alcohol and/or tobacco exposure appear to alter the relationship between white matter microstructure and early language skills in this population of toddlers, potentially laying the basis of language deficits observed later in older children with prenatal substance exposure, which may have implications for learning and interventions.

Indexed as

developmentdiffusion tensor imaging (DTI)early languageprenatal alcohol exposure (PAE)prenatal tobacco exposure

Identifiers

PMID39286039
PMCPMC11402807

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.