300 word summary of study for a non-expert audience including Background, Findings,
Conclusion and Implications:
Background, Findings, Conclusion
It is known that individuals with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) have cognitive difficulties,
including poor "behavioral flexibility." Behavioral flexibility is the ability to change behaviors when they
are not beneficial. Although it is hypothesized that FASD leads to changes in the prefrontal cortex that
are responsible for this inflexibiility, how this occurs is unclear. To study this we exposed pregnant mice
to daily moderate levels of alcohol and looked at:
1. Did prenatal exposure lead to problems with behavioral flexibility in mouse offspring?
2. What changes occurred in the offspring's prefrontal cortex that may be responsible for the
behavioral problems?
We found that the offspring displayed problems with behavioral flexibility(1) on a learning task. These
changes were accompanied by decreases in prefrontal cortex activity(2). Thus, our data suggest that
moderate prenatal alcohol exposure can result in prefrontal cortex changes and that these changes may
cause behavioral problems that can persist into adulthood.
Implications
The stigma attached to heavy drinking during pregnancy prevents most pregnant women from such
heavy drinking, but the effects of moderate alcohol use during pregnancy are less known and often
downplayed. Studies suggest that even moderate prenatal alcohol exposure can lead to behavioral and
attentional problems and changes in certain brain regions. A 2009 study surveying over 4,500 women
who had given birth to children without outward physical changes found that 30.3% of these women
drank at some time during pregnancy. That is a possible 1.2 million children who could have been born
with cognitive deficits in 2009 alone. It is essential to understand these cognitive problems and the
changes in the brain responsible for them. Further studies of this kind could help prevent moderate
alcohol use during pregnancy and provide a foundation for developing new treatments to help these
children.