Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40189903›Full record

ArticleAlcohol, clinical & experimental research2025

Prenatal alcohol exposure alters brain structure and neurocognitive outcomes for 6- to 7-year-old children in a South African birth cohort.

Chanellé J Hendrikse, Shantanu H Joshi, Jessica E Ringshaw, Layla Bradford, Annerine Roos, Catherine J Wedderburn, Nadia Hoffman, Tiffany Burd, Katherine L Narr, Roger P Woods and 3 more

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Alcohol, clinical & experimental research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Chanellé J HendrikseDivision of Developmental Paediatrics, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0002-1494-1800
Shantanu H JoshiDepartment of Neurology, Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, University of California Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, USA.
Jessica E RingshawDivision of Developmental Paediatrics, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Layla BradfordDivision of Developmental Paediatrics, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Annerine RoosNeuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Catherine J WedderburnDivision of Developmental Paediatrics, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Nadia HoffmanNeuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Tiffany BurdDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Katherine L NarrDepartment of Neurology, Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, University of California Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, USA.
Roger P WoodsDepartment of Neurology, Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center, University of California Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles, USA.
Heather J ZarDepartment of Paediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Dan J SteinNeuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Kirsten A DonaldDivision of Developmental Paediatrics, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.

Funding

Cross-Cultural Assessment of FASDU24AA014811 · NIAAA · SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY · PI EDWARD P RILEY · 2003 to 2026
$13.1M
Tracking and Prediction of Early Brain-Face Biomarkers of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure from Neonates to ChildrenR01AA026834 · NIAAA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · PI Kirsty Donald, Shantanu H. Joshi · 2018 to 2026
$3.8M
A neuroimaging study of 2 year old children with alcohol exposure compared to healthy unexposed controls embedded in a birth cohort studyR21AA023887 · NIAAA · UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN · PI DONALD, KIRSTY · 2016 to 2017
$280k
ABMRF/The Foundation for Alcohol ResearchBill and Melinda Gates Foundation 1017641Brain and Behavior Research Foundation 24467National Research Foundation 105865National Research Foundation 120432Newton Fund NAF002/1001NIAAA NIH HHS R01 AA026834NIAAA NIH HHS R01AA026834-01NIAAA NIH HHS R21 AA023887NIAAA NIH HHS R21AA023887NIAAA NIH HHS U24 AA014811South African Medical Research CouncilWellcome TrustWellcome Trust 203525/Z/16/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSeveral studies have demonstrated an association between prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and altered brain structure. However, more research is needed to understand how structural brain changes may influence neurocognitive performance in children with PAE at the age of school entry. We investigated the associations between PAE and cortical and subcortical gray matter morphology and whether PAE-related structural brain changes mediate the associations between PAE and neurocognitive outcomes in 6- to 7-year-old children.

methodsOne hundred fifty-eight children (49 PAE, 109 unexposed controls; 46% female; mean age 76 ± 5 months) who participated in a brain imaging substudy of the population-based Drakenstein Child Health Study were included. The children had moderate-to-high PAE without other substance exposure, except prenatal tobacco exposure. T1-weighted brain structural scans were acquired using a 3T MRI scanner. General linear models and mediation analyses tested the associations of PAE with cortical and subcortical metrics and associated neurocognitive outcomes.

resultsPAE was associated with a smaller total cortical surface area and had multivariate effects on regional cortical volume and surface area in the temporal lobe. The smaller volume and surface area of the left middle temporal gyrus mediated associations between PAE and neurocognitive outcomes for numeracy and mathematics and/or cognition and executive functioning. Findings persisted when adjusting for age, sex, maternal education, prenatal tobacco exposure, and, in volumetric and surface area models, intracranial volume.

conclusionThis study suggests that there is persistent altered brain structural development in children with PAE, consistent with previous findings in this cohort at infancy and age 2-3 years. Cortical changes in regions known to play a role in numeracy and semantic memory mediated associations between PAE and neurocognitive deficits, highlighting clinical relevance. Efforts to prevent PAE and improve neurocognitive development in children with PAE should be implemented as early as possible after birth.

Indexed as

BrainCognitionPrenatal Exposure Delayed EffectsBirth CohortChildCohort StudiesFemaleHumansMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleNeuropsychological TestsPregnancySouth Africaearly learning outcomesneurodevelopmentprenatal alcohol exposurestructural magnetic resonance imaging

Identifiers

PMID40189903
PMCPMC12098808

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.