Cannabis use in fetal life and puberty in relation to brain development

Project summary

Erasmus University Medical Center, Netherlands, is testing a “double-hit hypothesis” that exposure to substances during pregnancy may lead to subtle alterations in brain development making the child vulnerable to stressors which lead them to begin using substances. This study will use a large population cohort in the Netherlands, the Generation R study, in which children and their parents have been followed from early pregnancy onward.

Neuroimaging will be used to examine the longterm effects of prenatal cannabis exposure—the first hit—and substance use in adolescence and other stressors—the second hit—on neurodevelopmental trajectories of brain structure and connectivity.