Heavy cannabis use during pregnancy can lead to delays in fetal brain development that last into adulthood, a new study has found.
McGill University researchers used MRI techniques for brain imaging to track the effects of prenatal cannabis exposure in mice. The results were published in the Molecular Psychiatry journal in September and reported in a Nov. 18 news release from McGill.
The researchers conducted a simulation of daily exposure equivalent to one or two joints containing more than 10 percent THC during a pregnancy stage comparable to the first trimester in humans.
They found development changes in three life stages, including late pregnancy where babies exposed to delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) had smaller bodies and larger brain ventricles. It was a sign of “abnormal brain development,” according to researchers….