What Are The Effects Of Prenatal Choline Supplementation On Spatial Working Memory?

This paper explores the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on motor development. With this topic, came many questions. They are: Is every child effected the same amount, or does it depends on how much the mother drank and how much the fetus was exposed to?, Is there anything the mother can do to reverse the effects of exposure, or perhaps lessen the damage on the child?, Is there a safe amount of alcohol that can be consumed without harm?, And lastly, do the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure ever go away? Coles et al. (2015) and Lucas et al. (2016) suggest answers and evidence to these questions. This paper explains what happens when a fetus is exposed to alcohol, and how it

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a general term consist disabilities when a mother consumes alcohol during her pregnancy. The medical prognosis of FASD includes: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), Partial Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (PFAS), Alcohol Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder (ARND) and Alcohol Related Birth Defects (ARBD). Moreover, teratogen is a harmful agent that can interrupt the development of an embryo. For instance, alcohol is teratogen. As per Health Canada, FASD is a leading cause of a completely avertable developmental disability but it still affects approximately one percent of the Canadian population (Batshaw, Roizen & Lotrecchiano, 2012). However, there are many alterations to the disabilities and the development of sub-groups. Thereby, the term FASD is introduced to ensure the incidence of all the characteristics (mental, behavioral and physical) associated with prenatal exposure to alcohol. The exposure to alcohol during the pregnancy places the infant at the risk of developing problems such as abnormal appearance, low body weight, poor coordination, low intelligence, facial abnormalities, neuropsychological deficits, central nervous system deficits and growth delays (Riley, Infante & Warren, 2011). As the paper progress, we will discuss the characteristics, causes and the epidemiology of FASD. In addition we will all focus on the mental disorder such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) associated with FASD and a

Pre-natal alcohol exposure is an established cause of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), which is now recognized as the most common preventable cause of mental impairment in North America (Popova et al., 2013). Individuals with FASD experience a wide range of neurological and psychological disabilities caused by permanent brain alterations (Petrenko et al., 2014). The adverse health outcomes that arise from FASD have lifelong implications and pose a significant burden on the Canadian health care system (Popova et al., 2013). From a public health perspective, FASD presents a unique and complex challenge due to the specialized needs of those diagnosed with FASD, and the complexities of maternal alcohol use.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is characterized by women who continue to drink during pregnancy that give birth to babies with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) . FASD is an umbrella disorder in which many conditions can be a result from consumption of alcohol during pregnancy. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is classified by pre- and postnatal growth retardation, facial anomalies, and central nervous system dysfunction (Thomas et. al, 1998). Fetal Alcohol Syndrome is the most recognized condition in the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder. It is estimated that 6 per 1,000 live births has Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (Coggins, Timler, & Olswang, 2007) and 2,000-12,000 of the 4 million estimated births each year in the United States are likely to have FASD

Impairment of the central nervous system results in an array of behavioral problems including hyperactivity, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD) and impaired language, as well as difficulties learning and understanding social skills (Thomas, 2008). In addition, prenatal exposure to alcohol disrupts the development of major regions in the central nervous system such as the hippocampus, which contributes to memory (Thomas, 2008). The exposure to alcohol during development in the womb, consequently damaging the central nervous system and the hippocampus, makes the child’s learning experience more difficult due to the fact that their learning and their ability to memorize has been impaired.

Prenatal exposure to heavy alcohol increases the probability of the child to have developmental problems. One of the main problems of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is related to attention deficit. Children that were exposed to high doses of alcohol during pregnancy have lowest visual and auditory focus and take a longer time to change between visual and auditory attention. However, alcohol did not seem to have a significant impact on their

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder is a preventable disorder that affects many youth in our society. It is a cognitive disorder that affects their lives in many different ways such as relationships, education, employment, financially and socially. Olson, Feldman, Streissguth, Sampson, and Brookstein (1998) describe “Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) as a serious developmental disability caused by the teratogenic effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on the growing fetus. FAS are defined by a characteristic pattern of prenatal and/or post-natal growth deficiency, specific cranio facial malformations and variable central nervous system (CNS) dysfunction”. One of the most debilitating affects of the disorder is that it is an invisible disorder if not detected

The Groton maze is a computer cognitive test which requires a participant to find a twenty eight step pathway that is hidden on a 10 x 10 matrix of squares (Morgan et al. 2011). The maze measures the visuospatial executive function of an individual. This is done by assessing the total errors made throughout the trials which will highlight the level of the visuospatial executive function of the participant (Morgan et al. 2011). There are three essential rules to the maze that guide the participant’s attempt. Only one tile can be moved at a time; diagonal moves cannot be made; and if an incorrect choice is made, the participant must go back to the last location (Morgan et al. 2011). The device is seen as an effective method for measuring cognitive functioning because it is brief, reliable, valid and resistant to practice effects following multiple completions (Morgan, et al. 2011).

Since hippocampus plays an important function in the brain, it has become a great topic for many conducted research not only on human but also animals, specifically primates and rodents. In primate model of amnesia, the experiment is performed through three main tasks – delayed nonmatch to sample, object discrimination paradigm and motor skill learning across multiple trials (Eichenbaum et al, 1992). In delayed non-matching test, both amnesic and intact monkey show nearly same performance rate in remembering objects across delayed in short period of time (Eichenbaum et al, 1992). In contrast, amnesic monkeys show a great impairment for longer delayed conditions, hours, in picking the right non-matched samples (Eichenbaum et al, 1992). Likewise, in object discrimination task, amnesic monkeys are unable to recognize objects, as compared to control monkeys (Eichenbaum et al, 1992).These tests suggest the importance of hippocampus in acquisition of new information and recollection old events from episodic memory. Additionally, hippocampus also contributes largely to relational representation, as a characteristic of declarative memory (Eichenbaum et al, 1992). This can be shown through odor discrimination and place

Brown, J. M., Haun, J., Zapf, P. A., & Brown, N. N. (2017). Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and

The main purpose of this study is to see whether the polydrug group (people who had excessive alcohol and smoked cigarettes) experienced a greater effect on their perspective memory than a group that ONLY had excessive alcohol or a group that ONLY smoked cigarettes. The effects of each of the 3 groups will be seen on perspective memory and be compared to see which one of the 3 had a greater effect on perspective memory.

Receptors of various different neurotransmitter systems (comprising DA, 5HT, acetylcholine (ACh), and GABA) are overproduced and sustain pruning during adolescence. Also, DA input to PFC and Density of DA transporters raise during adolescence at levels significantly higher than those seen earlier or later in life. PFC illustrates remodelling during adolescence and the volume of PFC diminish around adolescence. In addition, PFC experienced a decline Density of spines on pyramidal cells during this transition period between adolescence and adulthood. Given that, adolescent considered as a critical point in life span and drug abuse at this time is capable of leading to perturbation and long lasting changes in the brain. For example, adolescent rodents exposure to alcohol has been revealed that later conversion in emotional and cognitive function beside of increasing in disrupting puberty and reproductive endocrinology system. Furthermore, there is some evidence that claim Early alcohol exposure is associated with later drug abuse as well as early exposure to illicit drugs caused increase later abuse of alcohol and other drugs. Other studies demonstrated that adolescent exposure to morphine increased expression of opioid receptor genes ( mu and kappa) as well as inclined the expression of proopiomelanocortin gene in the mediobasal hypothalamus. Although adolescent exposure to different drugs and alcohol receives attention, experimentation on early morphine exposure and long lasting effects of exposure in adolescent lags

examinations and testing could lead to possible therapeutic strategies to prevent the all neurobiological changes caused by drug abuse. In turn this shows a greater understanding of the role of habenula in psychiatric disorders (like substance use disorder) and with further study how we can treat and hopefully one day find a solution to preventing them occurring (Fakhoury, 2017).

The experiments consisted of a variety of tests; The Morris water maze task was used to test spatial learning and memory. For four consecutive days each rat was given four trials each day. Rats were timed in how long it took them to find the invisible “land” platform in a vat of water and how well they improved with practice. An Open field-test and an elevated plus maze test was used to test for anxiety-related behaviors. Examining such behavior allows researchers to rule out any probable effects aspirin may have on depression and anxiety.