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Review
. 2001;25(3):185-91.

Teratogenic effects of alcohol on brain and behavior

S N Mattson  1 , A M Schoenfeld, E P Riley
Affiliations
Review

Teratogenic effects of alcohol on brain and behavior

S N Mattson et al. Alcohol Res Health. 2001.

Abstract

Children prenatally exposed to alcohol can suffer from serious cognitive deficits and behavioral problems as well as from alcohol-related changes in brain structure. Neuropsychological studies have identified deficits in learning and memory as well as in executive functioning both in children with fetal alcohol syndrome and in children with less severe impairments. Both groups of children also exhibit problem behaviors, such as alcohol and drug use, hyperactivity, impulsivity, and poor socialization and communication skills. Brain imaging studies have identified structural changes in various brain regions of these children--including the basal ganglia, corpus callosum, cerebellum, and hippocampus--that may account for the cognitive deficits. Functional brain imaging studies also have detected changes in alcohol-exposed children indicative of deficits in information processing and memory tasks.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Brain areas affected by prenatal alcohol exposure.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(Top) Average outlines of the corpus callosum (i.e., the bundle of nerve fibers connecting the brain’s right and left hemispheres) in alcohol-exposed subjects (ALC) and non-alcohol-exposed control subjects. The corpus callosum is oriented so that the front of the head is to the right and the back of the head is to the left. The figure shows that the corpus callosum of the ALC is displaced in three-dimensional space compared with that of the control subjects, with the greatest displacement occurring in the isthmus and splenium at the back of the corpus callosum. (Bottom) A map showing the average displacement in millimeters between the ALC and the control subjects. Darker area (see arrow) indicates greater displacement between the two groups. Greater displacement is associated with greater performance impairment in certain tasks. SOURCE: Figure courtesy of Dr. Elizabeth Sowell.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Changes in brain tissue density in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure. A representative brain is shown with the back of the brain facing the reader’s right. Brain-mapping studies detected areas of increased gray matter density (shown in yellow on the left) as well as areas of reduced white matter density (shown in red on the right) in the parietal lobe. SOURCE: Figure courtesy of Dr. Elizabeth Sowell.
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References

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