Smoking Mothers can Cause Attentional Problems & Hyperactivity in Offsprings

more images

NEW YORK (GaeaTimes.com) — A recent study carried out by a group of researchers at Birmingham has revealed that smoking during pregnancy can decrease the number of adult stem cells and cause a change in synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus of the offspring.

Hippocampus is that part of the brain which is associated with learning and memory and the adult stem cells in the hippocampus tends to divide and create new cells continuously during our life time. The researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham reported that mothers who are exposed to nicotine during pregnancy are likely to have children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The result is verified by exposing rats to nicotine during pregnancy leads to a decrease in the number of new cells in the hippocampus.