Prenatal exposure to chemicals alters infants' brain activity
Pregnant mothers who are subjected to chemicals are at risk of delivering kids with poor cognition and behavioural problems. A new study in this regard has found that this exposure can harm and alter the infants' brain activity in the womb.
Researchers in this study used functional near-infrared imaging (NIRS) to monitor blood flow in the brains of 95 teenagers born and raised m where agricultural spraying of pesticides is common.
They found that these teenagers estimated to have higher levels of prenatal exposure to organophosphates ( commonly used class of pesticides in the US) and showed altered brain activity while performing taks that require executive control as compared to their peers.
These results are compelling because they support what we've seen with our neuropsychological testing, which os that organophosphates impact the brain, said the lead author.
Researchers ised fNIRS to measure brain activation while teens were between the age of 15-17, engaged in a variety of tasks requiring executive function, attention, social cognition and language comprehension.
fMRI uses infrared light to monitor blood flow in the outer regions or cortex, of the brain.
They also found that teens with higher prenatal organophosphate exposure had less blood flow to the frontal cortex when engaged in tasks that test cognitive flexibility and visual working memory and that they had more blood flow to the parietal and temporal lobes during tests of linguistic working memory.
With fNIRS and other neuroimaging, we're seeing more directly the potential impact of oragnophosphate exposure on the brain and it may be more sensitive to neurological deficit than cognitive testing, said the senior author of the study.
Researchers in this study used functional near-infrared imaging (NIRS) to monitor blood flow in the brains of 95 teenagers born and raised m where agricultural spraying of pesticides is common.
They found that these teenagers estimated to have higher levels of prenatal exposure to organophosphates ( commonly used class of pesticides in the US) and showed altered brain activity while performing taks that require executive control as compared to their peers.
These results are compelling because they support what we've seen with our neuropsychological testing, which os that organophosphates impact the brain, said the lead author.
Researchers ised fNIRS to measure brain activation while teens were between the age of 15-17, engaged in a variety of tasks requiring executive function, attention, social cognition and language comprehension.
fMRI uses infrared light to monitor blood flow in the outer regions or cortex, of the brain.
They also found that teens with higher prenatal organophosphate exposure had less blood flow to the frontal cortex when engaged in tasks that test cognitive flexibility and visual working memory and that they had more blood flow to the parietal and temporal lobes during tests of linguistic working memory.
With fNIRS and other neuroimaging, we're seeing more directly the potential impact of oragnophosphate exposure on the brain and it may be more sensitive to neurological deficit than cognitive testing, said the senior author of the study.