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April 27, 2007|Volume 35, Number 27|Two-Week Issue


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Attention deficits found in teen smokers who were exposed to nicotine in the womb

Teen smokers exposed to nicotine in the womb have trouble looking at or listening to something attentively, reports Leslie Jacobsen, researcher and associate professor of psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, in the March issue of Neuropsychopharmacology.

The study also found a difference between girls and boys who have a smoking and/or nicotine exposure history. The girls had problems in both looking and listening during the word recognition exercises. The boys had more problems listening while doing the exercises.

"This suggests that brain regions involved in auditory attention may be more vulnerable to nicotine in boys," Jacobsen says. "These gender-specific effects may result from differences in hormonal control of nicotine's actions."

Teen girls and boys who do not smoke and who were not exposed to nicotine pre-natally performed most accurately. Individuals who smoke but whose mothers did not smoke or those who do not smoke but whose mothers did smoke during pregnancy performed somewhere between the two groups.

The American Lung Association reports that about 4.5 million U.S. adolescents smoke cigarettes.

"The Center for Disease Control reports that smoking during pregnancy is the single most preventable cause of illness and death among mothers and infants," Jacobsen says. "Prior to this study, very little research was available on the less dramatic effects of exposure to smoking, such as the impact on attention capacity."

Co-authors include Theodore Slotkin, W. Einer Menci, Stephen Frost and Kenneth Pugh. The research was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

-- By Jacqueline Weaver


T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Center's initiative to promote understanding of Middle East

New policies offer academic relief to Ph.D. students who are new parents

Despite challenges, accessibility improving in Yale buildings

'Growing and Learning Together'

Immunology comes of age at the School of Medicine

The nation needs more 'conversation,' says television anchor

SOM HONORS

Yale Rep ends season with East Coast premiere of 'The Unmentionables'

Art exhibit explores the question: 'What Is a Line?'

Smoking status a 'red flag' for alcohol misuse, study finds

Study reveals abnormal patterns of facial recognition . . .

Student-made machines will vie in 'Yale Robot Wars' competition

Display explores historical process of globalization

Panel to discuss the early shapers of globalization

Show sketches the lives of residential college namesakes

Divinity School event to examine issues of 'Faith and Citizenship'

Brain networks strengthened by closing ion channels, study finds

Attention deficits found in teen smokers who were exposed to . . .

A2K2 conference will focus on access to knowledge issues

Films and readings will offer insights into views on aging in India and Japan

Center's inaugural conference will explore ways that social . . .

Event showcases medical students' original research

New system eliminates wait time for bus riders

Campus Notes


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