title: Parietal dysfunction during number processing in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
abstract: Number processing deficits are frequently seen in children prenatally exposed to alcohol. Although the parietal lobe, which is known to mediate several key aspects of number processing, has been shown to be structurally impaired in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), effects on functional activity in this region during number processing have not previously been investigated. This fMRI study of 49 children examined differences in activation associated with prenatal alcohol exposure in five key parietal regions involved in number processing, using tasks involving simple addition and magnitude comparison. Despite generally similar behavioral performance, in both tasks greater prenatal alcohol exposure was related to less activation in an anterior section of the right horizontal intraparietal sulcus known to mediate mental representation and manipulation of quantity. Children with fetal alcohol syndrome and partial fetal alcohol syndrome appeared to compensate for this deficit by increased activation of the angular gyrus during the magnitude comparison task.
authors.affiliation: MRC/UCT Medical Imaging Research Unit, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa ; Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Woods
authors.affiliation: MRC/UCT Medical Imaging Research Unit, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa ; Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Meintjes
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Molteno
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa ; Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa ; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA.
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Jacobson
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa ; Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa ; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI, USA.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Jacobson
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D063647:Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D055641:Mathematical Concepts; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013850:Thinking / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: AA, absolute alcohol; ADHD, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; ANOVA, analysis of variance; ARND, alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder; DD, developmental dyscalculia; EA, exact addition; EA_CTL, control block in the exact addition task; FAS, fetal alcohol syndrome; FASD, fetal alcohol spectrum disorders; Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders; Fetal alcohol syndrome; HE, heavily exposed; IPS, intraparietal sulcus; LSD, least-squares difference; Magnitude comparison; Number processing; PFAS, partial fetal alcohol syndrome; PJ, proximity judgment; PJ_CTL, control block in the proximity judgment task; PSPL, posterior superior parietal lobule; Parietal; Prenatal alcohol exposure; ROI, region of interest; TS, Turner syndrome; UCT, University of Cape Town; VBM, voxel-based morphometry; WISC-III, Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Third Edition; fMRI