1. Prenatal Alcohol Exposure is Associated with Regionally Thinner Cortex During the Preadolescent Period
- Author
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Robertson, Frances C, Narr, Katherine L, Molteno, Christopher D, Jacobson, Joseph L, Jacobson, Sandra W, and Meintjes, Ernesta M
- Subjects
Substance Misuse ,Perinatal Period - Conditions Originating in Perinatal Period ,Congenital Structural Anomalies ,Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) ,Conditions Affecting the Embryonic and Fetal Periods ,Brain Disorders ,Alcoholism ,Alcohol Use and Health ,Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) ,Neurosciences ,Pediatric ,Reproductive health and childbirth ,Neurological ,Good Health and Well Being ,Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity ,Cerebral Cortex ,Child ,Female ,Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders ,Follow-Up Studies ,Humans ,Image Processing ,Computer-Assisted ,Intelligence ,Intelligence Tests ,Longitudinal Studies ,Male ,Organ Size ,Pregnancy ,Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects ,Regression Analysis ,Socioeconomic Factors ,cortical thickness ,development ,fetal alcohol spectrum disorders ,fetal alcohol syndrome ,IQ ,Psychology ,Cognitive Sciences ,Experimental Psychology - Abstract
Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) may exhibit craniofacial dysmorphology, neurobehavioral deficits, and reduced brain volume. Studies of cortical thickness in FASD have yielded contradictory findings, with 3 reporting thicker cerebral cortex in frontal and temporal brain regions and 2 showing thinner cortex across multiple regions. All 5 studies included subjects spanning a broad age range, and none have examined continuous measures of prenatal alcohol exposure. We investigated the relation of extent of in utero alcohol exposure to cortical thickness in 78 preadolescent children with FASD and controls within a narrow age range. A whole-brain analysis using FreeSurfer revealed no significant clusters where cortical thickness differed by FASD diagnostic group. However, alcohol dose/occasion during pregnancy was inversely related to cortical thickness in 3 regions-right cuneus/pericalcarine/superior parietal lobe, fusiform/lingual gyrus, and supramarginal/postcentral gyrus. The effect of prenatal alcohol exposure on IQ was mediated by cortical thickness in the right occipitotemporal region. It is noteworthy that a continuous measure of maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy was more sensitive than FASD diagnosis and that the effect on cortical thickness was most evident in relation to a measure of maternal binge drinking.
- Published
- 2016