Scientists are trying to understand how cannabis may affect long-term neurodevelopment when people were exposed to it in the womb. Previous work by Washington University in St. Louis researchers Sarah Paul and David Baranger in the Behavioral Research and Imaging Neurogenetics (BRAIN) lab led by Ryan Bogdan, PhD, found associations between prenatal cannabis exposure and potential mental health conditions in childhood and adolescence, but potential biological mechanisms that could possibly explain this association were unclear.
In research published in Nature Mental Health this month, Bogdan, the Dean’s Distinguished Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences in Arts & Sciences, and senior scientist Baranger outline some of those potential mechanisms, the intermediate biological steps that could play into how prenatal cannabis exposure leads to behavioral issues down the line.
“We see evidence that cannabis exposure may influence the developing brain, consistent with associations with mental health,” Baranger said.
Trying to draw out the long-term impacts of cannabis exposure during pregnancy is not a simple knot to untangle. There are many confounding factors that affect mental health and behavior.