Roles for neurotransmitters in development: possible interaction with drugs during the fetal and neonatal periods
Lauder, J.M.
Progress in Clinical and Biological Research 163c: 375-380
1985
ISSN/ISBN: 0361-7742 PMID: 2859601 Document Number: 251864
In conclusion, a variety of experimental evidence suggests roles for serotonin and the catecholamine neurotransmitters in key phases of nervous system development, such as neural-tube formation, proliferation of neuronal precursor cells, and gliogenesis. This raises the possibility that psychoactive drugs of use and abuse which act via these neurotransmitters could, if taken by a woman at an appropriate stage of pregnancy, influence the developing embryonic nervous system by interfering with the synthesis, uptake, or metabolism of these compounds during critical periods of neural ontogeny.