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Monday, August 10, 2009

Effects of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure on Brain Activation During an Arithmetic Task: An fMRI Study
Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research Early View 10 Aug 2009

While behavioral studies have established that prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can result in diminished arithmetic processing capability, the underlying neural correlates of this deficit are still unclear. The aim of the present study was to use functional magnetic resonance imaging to determine the effect of PAE on neuronal activation during a subtraction task.

Results indicate that there is a range of effects of PAE on arithmetic processing and that the severity of this deficit may be dependent on degree of impairment demonstrated by the exposed individual. Evidence of physical dysmorphia may be indicative of functional damage to regions associated with arithmetic calculation, resulting in markedly impaired neuronal recruitment.


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