Cocaine during pregnancy causes cognitive impairments in kids
Cocaine during pregnancy can lead to cognitive impairments in
kids like attention insufficiency, learning disabilities and
emotional problems. Research on rabbits postulated that prenatal
cocaine exposure leads to a long lasting displacement of
dopamine receptors in certain brain cells, which changes their
ability to function normally. Doctors have also put forward that
cocaine if taken with other drugs cause premature labour,
preterm birth and low birth weight. In addition, if less dose of
cocaine is taken during pregnancy then baby seems to be normal
at birth but tend to develop cognitive impairment with growing
age. Prior to this, scholars had discovered that exposure to low
levels of intravenous cocaine during a very short span of time
during gestation causes certain changes in brain circuits that
use the neurotransmitter dopamine that is involved in regulating
the formation of cortical circuitry.  Leave a Reply