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. 1994;18(1):30-36.

Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Neurobehavioral Development: Where Is the Threshold?

Joseph L Jacobson  1 , Sandra W Jacobson  1
Affiliations

Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Neurobehavioral Development: Where Is the Threshold?

Joseph L Jacobson et al. Alcohol Health Res World. 1994.

Abstract

In terms of prenatal alcohol-induced alterations in neurobehavioral outcomes such as attention, activity level, and information-processing speed, a threshold of alcohol consumption may be difficult to determine. Studies on humans indicate that seven standard drinks per week may be the threshold for the most sensitive neurobehaviors but may not apply to all women and all babies.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Dose-response effect of maternal drinking during pregnancy on three infant neurobehavioral outcomes. The number of children in each drinking level exposure group is given in parentheses (see table 1 for actual amounts of alcohol).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Ideal dose-response curves for four domains affected by toxic exposure during fetal development. As dose of a toxic substance increases, more fetuses are at risk of injury and effects become more severe, ranging from functional teratogenesis, which includes neurobehavioral outcomes, to fetal death. 1The LD50 represents the median lethal dose of a toxic substance at which half of the fetuses exposed will die. SOURCE: Vorhees 1986.
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