It is well documented that drinking alcohol during pregnancy can seriously and irreversibly damage the unborn child. Now, new research exploring memory deficits in children diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) or fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) may hold the key in the future development of new therapies and treatments.
The lead author of the study said that the mechanism associated with the deficits seen in children with FASD and FAS are still not completely understood. Therefore, the research team chose to focus on the mental difficulties that the children experience to help determine the specific reasons for them.
"FASD is associated with learning problems in children, including having difficulties in response inhibition and memory," said Joseph Jacobson, Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at the Wayne State University School of Medicine.
Jacobson said that researchers know that "prenatal alcohol exposure affects many different aspects of brain development, including brain size, neuronal development, and development of what matter tracts."
