A review of the verbal and visual memory impairments in children with foetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
BACKGROUND
Children with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) have significant impairments in memory, negatively affecting academics and daily functioning.


OBJECTIVE
To review published research on: (1) verbal and visual-spatial memory in children with FASD or prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE); (2) animal research on the impact of PAE on memory; and (3) brain areas involved in memory that are affected by PAE.


RESULTS
Verbal memory is one of the main areas of memory affected by gestational alcohol exposure, specifically in encoding and retrieving information. Spatial memory has emerged as a dominant deficit in individuals with FASD, consistent in children, adolescents and adults. There are regions of the brain more typically affected by PAE, which have ties to memory functioning. Animal research has confirmed the presence of impacts to key brain regions involved in memory functioning for those affected by PAE.


CONCLUSIONS
Memory deficits are a prevalent finding in individuals with PAE. Research in this area is complicated by small sample sizes, difficulty linking animal research to human application and lack of effective connection between existing memory theory and functional memory testing in FASD. New research has shown that there are implications for memory and learning amelioration in children with FASD.
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Shazeen
S
Manji
Jacqueline
J
Pei
Carly
C
Loomes
Carmen
C
Rasmussen
D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D063647:Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000503:physiopathology