title: Mapping cerebellar vermal morphology and cognitive correlates in prenatal alcohol exposure.
abstract: Prenatal exposure to alcohol can result in neuroanatomical and neurocognitive deficits. High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging, surface-based image analytic methods, and neuropsychological measures were used to characterize the cerebellar vermis and to evaluate potential cognitive correlates of vermal morphology in 21 children and adolescents with prenatal alcohol exposure and 21 normally developing individuals. Alcohol-exposed individuals showed statistically significant reductions in the midline sagittal areas of the anterior vermis and posterior-inferior vermis, and significant displacement of the anterior and posterior-inferior vermal regions. Anterior vermal dysmorphology was negatively correlated with verbal learning and memory performance within the alcohol-exposed group. These observations expand on previous reports of cerebellar abnormalities in prenatal alcohol exposure, in that they localize the specific pattern of cerebellar vermal dysmorphology.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Department of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: O'Hare
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kan
authors.forename: June
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yoshii
authors.forename: Sarah N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Mattson
authors.forename: Edward P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Riley
authors.forename: Paul M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Arthur W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Toga
authors.forename: Elizabeth R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Sowell
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000431:Ethanol