Sarah N. Mattson

TL;DR: The behavioral and cognitive effects of prenatal alcohol exposure are reviewed, with a focus on IQ, activity, attention, learning, memory, language, motor, and visuospatial abilities in children prenatally exposed to varying amounts of alcohol, including those with fetal alcohol syndrome.

TL;DR: This paper will provide a comprehensive review of the neuropsychological and behavioral effects of heavy prenatal alcohol exposure, including a discussion of the emerging neurobehavioral profile.

TL;DR: Novel findings were that in FAS participants, white matter volumes were more affected than gray matter volumes in the cerebrum, and parietal lobes wereMore affected than temporal and occipital lobes, and the hippocampus was relatively preserved in Fas participants.

TL;DR: Deficits in executive functioning were observed in alcohol-exposed children with or without the diagnosis of FAS and in the absence of mental retardation, consistent with anecdotal and empirical reports of deficits in behavioral control and with neuroanatomical evidence of volumetric reductions in structures within the frontal-subcortical system in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure.

TL;DR: The data suggest that heavy prenatal alcohol exposure is related to a consistent pattern of neuropsychological deficits and the degree of these deficits may be independent of the presence of physical features associated with FAS.