Alcohol tijdens zwangerschap slecht voor hersenen baby.*
Een kleine deelstudie onder 22 kinderen laat zien dat regelmatig alcohol drinken tijdens de
zwangerschap invloed heeft op de hersenfuncties van de baby. Deze kinderen hebben minder hersenactiviteit in bepaalde hersengedeeltes en in andere gedeeltes meer activiteiten met als onder meer mogelijke gevolgen gedragsproblemen en ADHD.
Drinking While Pregnant May Alter Child's Brain
Being exposed to alcohol before birth may lead to behavioral problems later on, U.S. researchers report.
Heavy prenatal alcohol exposure does not always lead to fetal alcohol syndrome, noted a team reporting in the issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. In some cases, it can cause cognitive and behavioral problems without the facial features characteristic of fetal alcohol
syndrome.
In their study, researchers at San Diego State University (SDSU) examined 22 children and adolescents (ages 8 to 18 years) -- 13 with and 9 without histories of heavy prenatal alcohol exposure. The participants were part of a larger study at the Center for Behavioral
Teratology, SDSU.
The participants who were exposed to heavy alcohol before birth had altered responses in the frontal-striatal areas of the
brain.
"We found two regions within the prefrontal cortex where the youth with alcohol-exposure histories had increased brain activation and one area in the subcortex (called the caudate nucleus) where the alcohol-exposed youth had decreased brain activation," study co-author Susanna L. Fryer, a graduate student in the SDSU/University of California, San Diego, joint doctoral program in clinical psychology, said in a prepared statement.
These brain regions are thought to be involved with the inhibition of behavior. In fact, the participants with alcohol exposure were also at greater risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and other psychiatric diseases linked with poor control of inhibition.
"Prenatal alcohol exposure can cause damage to the brain that results in significant problems with regulating behavior and optimal thinking and learning," Fryer
said. (September 2007)
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