Perinatal neurotoxicology of psychotropic drugs

The particular period of exposure to psychotropic drugs plays a critical role in producing behavioural abnormalities in rodents. The administration of various neuroleptic, antidepressant and anti-anxiety agents prenatally or to neonatal animals can lead to short- and long-term behavioural changes that are not obtained by treating adult animals,Vincenzo Cuomo explains that these behavioural changes, which occur in the absence of overt signs of neurotoxicity, may be the consequence of subtle alterations in physiological and biochemical aspects of the CNS.