In Utero Opioid Use Associated With Smaller Brain Regions
Children’s National Hospital and partnering academic centers have found that newborns exposed to opioids in utero exhibited smaller brain volumes in multiple regions compared with unexposed infants. Cortical gray matter, white matter, deep gray matter, cerebellum, brainstem and the amygdala all showed reduced size, indicating possible early markers of neurodevelopmental impairment.
