Cocaine Addiction in Mothers: Potential Effects on Maternal Care and Infant Development

Overview

Journal Ann N Y Acad Sci

Specialty Science

Date 2010 Mar 6

PMID 20201853

Citations 38

Authors

Lane Strathearn

Linda C Mayes

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Maternal cocaine addiction is a significant public health issue particularly affecting children, with high rates of reported abuse, neglect, and foster care placement. This review examines both preclinical and clinical evidence for how cocaine abuse may affect maternal care and infant development, exploring brain, behavioral, and neuroendocrine mechanisms. There is evidence that cocaine affects infant development both directly, via in utero exposure, and indirectly via alterations in maternal care. Two neural systems known to play an important role in both maternal care and cocaine addiction are the oxytocin and dopamine systems, mediating social and reward-related behaviors and stress reactivity. These same neural mechanisms may also be involved in the infant's development of vulnerability to addiction. Understanding the neuroendocrine pathways involved in maternal behavior and addiction may help facilitate earlier, more effective interventions to help substance-abusing mothers provide adequate care for their infant and perhaps prevent the intergenerational transmission of risk.

Citing Articles

Developmental Pathways from Prenatal Substance Exposure to Reactive Aggression.

Godleski S, Schuetze P, Eiden R, Nickerson A, Ostrov J J Appl Dev Psychol. 2024; 83.

PMID: 38827951 PMC: 11142622. DOI: 10.1016/j.appdev.2022.101474.

A randomized wait-list controlled trial to investigate the role of cognitive mechanisms in parenting interventions on mothers with substance use disorder.

Porreca A, Simonelli A, De Carli P, Barone L, Filippi B, Rigo P Trials. 2022; 23(1):588.

PMID: 35870942 PMC: 9308363. DOI: 10.1186/s13063-022-06420-8.

Neurobiology of peripartum mental illness.

Pawluski J, Swain J, Lonstein J Handb Clin Neurol. 2021; 182():63-82.

PMID: 34266612 PMC: 11736696. DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-819973-2.00005-8.

Advancing preventive interventions for pregnant women who are opioid using via the integration of addiction and mental health research.

Mackiewicz Seghete K, Graham A, Shank T, Alsup S, Fisher P, Wilson A Curr Addict Rep. 2020; 7(1):61-67.

PMID: 32201680 PMC: 7083585. DOI: 10.1007/s40429-020-00296-x.

Pathways Relating the Neurobiology of Attachment to Drug Addiction.

Strathearn L, Mertens C, Mayes L, Rutherford H, Rajhans P, Xu G Front Psychiatry. 2019; 10:737.

PMID: 31780957 PMC: 6857543. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00737.

References

Champagne F, Weaver I, Diorio J, Sharma S, Meaney M . Natural variations in maternal care are associated with estrogen receptor alpha expression and estrogen sensitivity in the medial preoptic area. Endocrinology. 2003; 144(11):4720-4. DOI: 10.1210/en.2003-0564. View

Hans S, Bernstein V, Henson L . The role of psychopathology in the parenting of drug-dependent women. Dev Psychopathol. 2000; 11(4):957-77. DOI: 10.1017/s0954579499002400. View

Liu Y, Wang Z . Nucleus accumbens oxytocin and dopamine interact to regulate pair bond formation in female prairie voles. Neuroscience. 2003; 121(3):537-44. DOI: 10.1016/s0306-4522(03)00555-4. View

Elliott J, Lubin D, Walker C, Johns J . Acute cocaine alters oxytocin levels in the medial preoptic area and amygdala in lactating rat dams: implications for cocaine-induced changes in maternal behavior and maternal aggression. Neuropeptides. 2001; 35(2):127-34. DOI: 10.1054/npep.2001.0854. View

Bendersky M, Lewis M . Arousal modulation in cocaine-exposed infants. Dev Psychol. 1998; 34(3):555-64. PMC: 1531635. View

Insel T . A neurobiological basis of social attachment. Am J Psychiatry. 1997; 154(6):726-35. DOI: 10.1176/ajp.154.6.726. View

Francis D, Champagne F, Meaney M . Variations in maternal behaviour are associated with differences in oxytocin receptor levels in the rat. J Neuroendocrinol. 2000; 12(12):1145-8. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2826.2000.00599.x. View

Light K, Grewen K, Amico J, Boccia M, Brownley K, Johns J . Deficits in plasma oxytocin responses and increased negative affect, stress, and blood pressure in mothers with cocaine exposure during pregnancy. Addict Behav. 2004; 29(8):1541-64. PMC: 3109495. DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2004.02.062. View

Hansen S, Harthon C, Wallin E, Lofberg L, Svensson K . Mesotelencephalic dopamine system and reproductive behavior in the female rat: effects of ventral tegmental 6-hydroxydopamine lesions on maternal and sexual responsiveness. Behav Neurosci. 1991; 105(4):588-98. DOI: 10.1037//0735-7044.105.4.588. View

10.

Harmer A, Sanderson J, Mertin P . Influence of negative childhood experiences on psychological functioning, social support, and parenting for mothers recovering from addiction. Child Abuse Negl. 1999; 23(5):421-33. DOI: 10.1016/s0145-2134(99)00020-4. View

11.

Nitschke J, Nelson E, Rusch B, Fox A, Oakes T, Davidson R . Orbitofrontal cortex tracks positive mood in mothers viewing pictures of their newborn infants. Neuroimage. 2004; 21(2):583-92. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2003.10.005. View

12.

Caldji C, Tannenbaum B, Sharma S, Francis D, Plotsky P, Meaney M . Maternal care during infancy regulates the development of neural systems mediating the expression of fearfulness in the rat. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1998; 95(9):5335-40. PMC: 20261. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.95.9.5335. View

13.

Mayes L . A developmental perspective on the regulation of arousal states. Semin Perinatol. 2000; 24(4):267-79. DOI: 10.1053/sper.2000.9121. View

14.

Strathearn L, Li J, Fonagy P, Montague P . What's in a smile? Maternal brain responses to infant facial cues. Pediatrics. 2008; 122(1):40-51. PMC: 2597649. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2007-1566. View

15.

Nelson C, Meter K, Walker C, Ayers A, Johns J . A dose-response study of chronic cocaine on maternal behavior in rats. Neurotoxicol Teratol. 1998; 20(6):657-60. DOI: 10.1016/s0892-0362(98)00016-6. View

16.

Lorberbaum J, Newman J, Horwitz A, Dubno J, Lydiard R, Hamner M . A potential role for thalamocingulate circuitry in human maternal behavior. Biol Psychiatry. 2002; 51(6):431-45. DOI: 10.1016/s0006-3223(01)01284-7. View

17.

Dube S, Felitti V, Dong M, Chapman D, Giles W, Anda R . Childhood abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction and the risk of illicit drug use: the adverse childhood experiences study. Pediatrics. 2003; 111(3):564-72. DOI: 10.1542/peds.111.3.564. View

18.

Noriuchi M, Kikuchi Y, Senoo A . The functional neuroanatomy of maternal love: mother's response to infant's attachment behaviors. Biol Psychiatry. 2007; 63(4):415-23. DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.05.018. View

19.

Heyser C, Molina V, Spear L . A fostering study of the effects of prenatal cocaine exposure: I. Maternal behaviors. Neurotoxicol Teratol. 1992; 14(6):415-21. DOI: 10.1016/0892-0362(92)90052-c. View

20.

Numan M, Rosenblatt J, Komisaruk B . Medial preoptic area and onset of maternal behavior in the rat. J Comp Physiol Psychol. 1977; 91(1):146-64. DOI: 10.1037/h0077304. View