Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
MARY ET BOYLE, PH.D.
DEPARTMENT OF COGNITIVE SCIENCE
UCSD
Failures of Neural Development:
Environmental ((external)) factors
 Fetal alcohol syndrome
y
((FAS))
 Cause


Consumption of alcohol during pregnancy
Ch
Characteristics
t i ti
Physical—diminished height, distinctive facial features, altered
nose and eyelids
 Behavioral and cognitive—mental retardation, hyperactivity, and
irritability

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome:
Dr. Ken Jones
New York Times, 2007
The physical landmarks of the human face
are very similar from one face to another.
A simian crease is a single palmar crease as
compared to two creases in a normal palm.
Simian crease occurs in about 1 out of 30
normal people, but is also frequently
associated with other conditions such as
Down syndrome, Aarskog syndrome or
fetal alcohol syndrome.
Brain of baby with no exposure to alcohol
Brain of baby with heavy prenatal exposure to alcohol
Photo courtesy of Sterling Clarren, MD
A child with FAS
(a) shares the
typical craniofacial
features, including
microcephaly, short
palpebral fissures,
fissures a
small nose, and
long
(from nose to
mouth) upper lip
with
t a deficient
de c e t
philtrum, with a
mouse fetus whose
mother was treated
with alcohol on her
seventh day of
pregnancy (b).
Illustrated for
comparison is a
normal mouse fetus
of the same
developmental
stage (c).
The face and forebrain of a normal gestational Day 11 mouse embryo (a and b) compared with those of three embryos
compared with those of three embryos (c and d; e and f; g and h) affected to differing degrees by maternal ethanol treatment on Day 7 of pregnancy illustrate concurrent loss of the ‘‘midline’’
of the midline tissues.
tissues
In particular, note the abnormally close proximity of the nostrils, with absence of portions of the medial nasal prominences
portions of the medial nasal prominences (m), as well as similar
abnormal proximity of the ganglionic
eminences (g) and absence of the septal
region (s)
region (s).
Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology 2001, 43: 148–154
Brain abnormalities


Acallosal – agenesis of the corpus callosum
Thin corpus callosum - disgenesis
Normal child
FAS children with focally thin
Corpus callosum or acallosal.
(Mattson, Jernigan, & Riley, 1994).