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

    Facts About Cancer

    Facts About Cancer
    Believe it or not, cancer has afflicted people for several centuries. It is not a new disease. In fact, it is because of early research that we hold a greater knowledge of cancer today.

    Facts About Cancer

    Cancer – A Call to Action

    Cancer – A Call to Action
    Just imagine for a second that you are sitting next to a woman who has just found out that she has been diagnosed with stage four-breast cancer. You are at a loss for words because ultimately there is nothing you can say that will ease her fear or burden

    Cancer – A Call to Action

    5 Biggest Mistakes that may kill your internal organs & how to avoid them

    5 Biggest Mistakes that may kill your internal organs & how to avoid them
    More than 9 million Canadians are living with diabetes or prediabetes; if left untreated, diabetes will result in following complications: heart disease, kidney disease, eye disease, problems with erection (impotence), nerve damage

    5 Biggest Mistakes that may kill your internal organs & how to avoid them

    Kettlebell Fitness

    Kettlebell Fitness
    What is it exactly – well the kettlebell is an old time strength-training tool a lot like a dumbbell, only shaped differently. Kettlebells are a lot like a cannonball with a handle, usually made out of cast iron.

    Kettlebell Fitness

    Taking Control of your well-being with a Healthy Heart

    Taking Control of your well-being with a Healthy Heart
    South Asians in North America, have premature heart attacks under age 65 at a rate double the national average. Many South Asians suffer from high blood pressure

    Taking Control of your well-being with a Healthy Heart

    Vitamin D: Fact V.S. Fiction

    Vitamin D: Fact V.S. Fiction
    Vitamin D has been a hot topic among doctors and nutritionists lately, particularly when it comes to challenging its dosage requirements and overall benefits

    Vitamin D: Fact V.S. Fiction