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Description
The current study (1) examined how prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) impacts performance on executive function, attention, working and episodic memory in children; (2) investigated how PAE effects volumes of the whole brain, bilateral medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and bilateral hippocampus; and (3) if brain volume differences contribute to cognitive functioning. Data collected through the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) project was used. Participants in the study included 405 children aged 9-10 years old. Participants were divided into three groups: children that were exposed to alcohol prenatally prior to pregnancy recognition only (PAE-PPR), children that were exposed to alcohol prior to and after pregnancy recognition (PAE-APR), and controls with no reported PAE. All participants were tested on the NIH Toolbox Cognitive Battery and completed MRI T1-weighted MPRAGE anatomical imaging. Parents completed a questionnaire on prenatal exposures to alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. Multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVA) revealed no significant differences between the groups on cognition scores. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) revealed a significant group difference in whole brain volume, with the CON group and the PAE-PPR group displaying significantly smaller whole brain volume than the PAE-APR group. There were no significant differences in volume size of the bilateral mPFC or hippocampi between groups. Multiple regression analyses revealed that SES independently predicted cognition scores. PAE was not associated with cognitive deficits nor volume size reductions in the mPFC or hippocampus. However, total brain volume was found to be larger in the group of children with PAE that occurred after pregnancy recognition, suggesting these children may experience a potential delay in neurodevelopment. Given the differences in total brain volume noted between the groups, future research should examine additional timepoints to determine if prenatal alcohol exposure in the ABCD sample is associated with cognitive or behavioral changes at older ages.
