Close X
Saturday, November 23, 2024
ADVT 
Health & Fitness

Mother's alcohol consumption may make kids dull

Darpan News Desk IANS, 05 Aug, 2014 07:41 AM
    Expecting mothers may give their drinking glass a goodbye kiss as researchers have found that parental alcohol exposure weakens brain activation in their children.
     
    Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) showed weaker brain activation during specific cognitive tasks than their unaffected counterparts, the findings showed.
     
    FASD refers to the permanent birth defects caused by the mother's consumption of alcohol during pregnancy.
     
    These results demonstrated that prenatal alcohol exposure can change how brain signalling develops during childhood and adolescence, long after the damaging effects of alcohol exposure in the womb.
     
    "Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been used to observe brain activity during mental tasks in children with FASD, but we are the first to utilise these techniques to look at brain activation over time," said Prapti Gautam from The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles in the US.
     
    To study how prenatal alcohol exposure may alter this development, researchers observed a group of unaffected children and a group of children with FASD over two years.
     
    "We found that there were significant differences in development brain activation over time between the two groups, even though they did not differ in task performance," noted Elizabeth Sowell from The Saban Research Institute.
     
    "While the healthy control group showed an increase in signal intensity over time, the children with FASD showed a decrease in brain activation during visuo-spatial attention, especially in the frontal, temporal and parietal brain regions," Sowell added.
     
    The study will be published in the journal Cerebral Cortex.

    MORE Health & Fitness ARTICLES

    How To Get Perfect Beach Holiday Skin

    How To Get Perfect Beach Holiday Skin
    People love holidaying on beach, but they do not know how to keep their skin glowing. Expert gives tip to protect skin to have that beautiful beach holiday look.

    How To Get Perfect Beach Holiday Skin

    Tips For Eating Out On A Diet

    Tips For Eating Out On A Diet
    Are you one of the calorie-conscious people who shun friends in favour of your figure? If you think socialising would ruin your diet, think again as it's all about making the right choices.

    Tips For Eating Out On A Diet

    How Asian American mothers motivate their kids

    How Asian American mothers motivate their kids
    Even as parents fiercely debate what parenting methods produce more successful children, researchers have unraveled the key differences between parenting methods of Asian Americans and European Americans.

    How Asian American mothers motivate their kids

    Five Steps To The Perfect Tan on Holiday

    Five Steps To The Perfect Tan on Holiday
    There are lots of reasons why people look forward to their holidays in the sun as this is the time to achieve that perfect golden tan. Exfoliating body with a loofah and using a light tanning lotion a week before holidays can do wonders.

    Five Steps To The Perfect Tan on Holiday

    Natural Choices to Combat Ageing

    Natural Choices to Combat Ageing
    One can achieve a perfect skin by including turmeric, ginger and green leafy vegetables in the food intake, says an expert.

    Natural Choices to Combat Ageing

    Yoga can ease stress for pregnant women

    Yoga can ease stress for pregnant women
    Practicing yoga during pregnancy can help you reap health benefits like stress reduction and a decrease in a woman’s fear of childbirth, according to researchers.

    Yoga can ease stress for pregnant women