Prenatal exposure to antipsychotics

Six-month-OLD infants who were prenatally exposed to antipsychotics scored significantly lower on standardised neuromotor performance tests, compared with those who had been exposed to antidepressants or those who had not been exposed to any psychotropic drugs, a case-controlled study has found.

Neither prenatal antipsychotic nor prenatal antidepressant exposure was associated with alterations in infant habituation, indicating that these agents may not significantly impact early attention modulation and learning.

Arch Gen Psychiatry 2012; online 2 April