Prenatal Alcohol Exposure & Neuropsychological Function

Kaemingk, Kristine

Abstract

The purpose of this proposal is to take a theoretically based approach to examination of effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on cognitive functioning in youth who exhibit Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) or Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE). Performance on measures of frontal lobe function, response inhibition, and measures assessing theoretically differentiable aspects of memory function will be emphasized since recent findings and theories of central nervous system (CNS) function suggest that examination of brain-behavior relationships in these areas may be particularly fruitful.
The specific aims are to compare performance of groups of children with FAS or FAE with that of age- and sex- matched control groups on frontal and response inhibition measures, and to compare spatial memory in groups of children with FAS or FAE and age- and sex-matched control groups since recent findings suggest that memory for object location, a possible indicator of hippocampal dysfunction, is impaired in youth with FAS or FAE. It is hypothesized that FAS/FAE groups will exhibit deficits on measures of frontal function, response inhibition, and spatial memory relative to control groups. If significant differences exist, analyses of covariance will be used to examine relationships between frontal and response inhibition meadures, and working memory and visuomotor abilities since these also contribute to performance on frontal and response inhibition tasks. Analyses of coveriance will be employed to determine whether group differences in spatial memory, if detected, remain once nonmotor perceptual abilities and memory for nonspatial incormaiton are taken into account. If theoretically consistent and specific differences can be found between FAS/FAE groups and matched controls, this will provide direction for future research examining brain-behavior relationships and guide research on educational and other interventions.