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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
neuroscience
A longitudinal study of the long-term consequences of drinking during pregnancy: Heavy in utero alcohol exposure disrupts the normal processes of brain development
Journal of Neuroscience, Volume 32, No. 44, Year 2012
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Description
Exposure to alcohol in utero can cause birth defects, including face and brain abnormalities, and is the most common preventable cause of intellectual disabilities. Here we use structural magnetic resonance imaging to measure cortical volume change longitudinally in a cohort of human children and youth with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and a group of unexposed control subjects, demonstrating that the normal processes of brain maturation are disrupted in individuals whose mothers drank heavily during pregnancy. Trajectories of cortical volume change within children and youth with PAE differed from those of unexposed control subjects in posterior brain regions, particularly in the parietal cortex. In these areas, control children appear to show a particularly plastic cortex with a prolonged pattern of cortical volume increases followed by equally vigorous volume loss during adolescence, while the alcohol-exposed participants showed primarily volume loss, demonstrating decreased plasticity. Furthermore, smaller volume changes between scans were associated with lower intelligence and worse facial morphology in both groups, and were related to the amount of PAE during each trimester of pregnancy in the exposed group. This demonstrates that measures of IQ and facial dysmorphology predict, to some degree, the structural brain development that occurs in subsequent years. These results are encouraging in that interventions aimed at altering "experience" over time may improve brain trajectories in individuals with heavy PAE and possibly other neurodevelopmental disorders. ©2012 the authors.
Authors & Co-Authors
Lebel, Catherine
United States, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
Mattson, Sarah N.
United States, San Diego
San Diego State University
Riley, Edward Patrick
United States, San Diego
San Diego State University
Jones, Kenneth Lyons
United States, La Jolla
University of California, San Diego
Adnams, Colleen M.
South Africa, Cape Town
University of Cape Town
May, Philip A.
United States, Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Bookheimer, Susan Yost
United States, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
O'Connor, Mary J.
United States, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
Narr, Katherine Louise
United States, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
Kan, Eric C.
United States, Los Angeles
Keck School of Medicine of Usc
Abaryan, Zvart
United States, Los Angeles
Keck School of Medicine of Usc
Sowell, Elizabeth R.
United States, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
United States, Los Angeles
Keck School of Medicine of Usc
Statistics
Citations: 139
Authors: 12
Affiliations: 6
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1161-12.2012
ISSN:
02706474
e-ISSN:
15292401
Research Areas
Maternal And Child Health
Sexual And Reproductive Health
Substance Abuse
Study Design
Cohort Study
Study Approach
Quantitative