ArticleFrontiers in neuroscience2023
Brain structural differences in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and its subtypes.
Article in Frontiers in neuroscience, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Recent breakthroughs in understanding the cerebellum's role in fetal alcohol spectrum disorder: A systematic review.Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) · 2024Pooled it
- ACSS2 mediates prenatal alcohol exposure-related morphological and behavioral phenotypes.Neurobiology of disease · 2026Article
- Subtle Cognitive Variability in Foetal Alcohol Syndrome Spectrum: Intelligence Profiles and Verbal Fluency Performance Across Diagnostic Categories in Polish Population.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Neuro-cortical signatures of attention in uni- and multi-sensory audio-visual processing in children.Neuroscience · 2026Article
- Regional cerebellum volume anomalies and associated cognitive function in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.Alcohol, clinical & experimental research · 2026Article
- Pattern of Deep Grey Matter Undersizing Boosts MRI-Based Diagnostic Classifiers in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.Human brain mapping · 2025Article
- Impact of Developmental Alcohol Exposure on the Thalamus.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2025Review
- Neurological Disorders Induced by Drug Use: Effects of Adolescent and Embryonic Drug Exposure on Behavioral Neurodevelopment.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Developmental alcohol exposure is exhausting: Sleep and the enduring consequences of alcohol exposure during development.Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Introduction: The teratogenic effects of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) have been examined in animal models and humans. The current study extends the prior literature by quantifying differences in brain structure for individuals with a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) compared to typically developing controls, as well as examining FASD subtypes. We hypothesized the FASD group would reveal smaller brain volume, reduced cortical thickness, and reduced surface area compared to controls, with the partial fetal alcohol syndrome (pFAS)/fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) subtypes showing the largest effects and the PAE/alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND) subtype revealing intermediate effects. Methods: The sample consisted of 123 children and adolescents recruited from a single site including children with a diagnosis of FASD/PAE (26 males, 29 females) and controls (34 males, 34 females). Structural T1-weighted MRI scans were obtained on a 3T Trio TIM scanner and FreeSurfer v7.2 was used to quantify brain volume, cortical thickness, and surface area. Analyses examined effects by subgroup: pFAS/FAS ( Results: Total brain volume in children with an FASD was smaller relative to controls, but subtype analysis revealed only the pFAS/FAS group differed significantly from controls. Regional analyses similarly revealed reduced brain volume in frontal and temporal regions for children with pFAS/FAS, yet children diagnosed with PAE/ARND generally had similar volumes as controls. Notable differences to this pattern occurred in the cerebellum, caudate, and pallidum where children with pFAS/FAS and PAE/ARND revealed lower volume relative to controls. In the subset of participants who had neuropsychological testing, correlations between volume and IQ scores were observed. Goodness-of-Fit analysis by age revealed differences in developmental patterns (linear vs. quadratic) between groups in some cases. Discussion: This study confirmed prior results indicating decreased brain volume in children with an FASD and extended the results by demonstrating differential effects by structure for FASD subtypes. It provides further evidence for a complex role of PAE in structural brain development that is likely related to the cognitive and behavioral effects experienced by children with an FASD.
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