title: An ERP Study of Response Inhibition in the Auditory Domain in Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.
abstract: Previous event-related potential (ERP) studies of response inhibition in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) have used a visual Go/NoGo task to study the impact of prenatal alcohol exposure on response inhibition. No studies exist using auditory versions of the task; thus, it is unclear how the deficits observed in visual tasks translate into the auditory domain.
  
  
  
  This study examined ERPs using an auditory Go/NoGo paradigm in a sample of 35 school-age children-18 with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure and 17 normally developing controls.
  
  
  
  Alcohol-exposed children performed as well as controls in terms of inhibiting their responses; however, their reaction times were significantly slower under the Go condition. As in the ERP visual Go/NoGo task previously administered to these children, group differences were seen in early perceptual processing, specifically related to stimulus discrimination, with a decrease in P2 amplitude in the alcohol-exposed group. The control group exhibited greater N2 amplitude in the NoGo compared to the Go condition while the alcohol-exposed group did not, suggesting a group difference in the neural substrates underlying conflict monitoring. The alcohol-exposed group demonstrated longer latency P3 with reduced amplitude, suggesting poorer allocation of attention. The alcohol-exposed group also exhibited a late positive component (LPC) similar to the one observed in the previous visual ERP study. This LPC may indicate compensatory neurophysiological function related to resetting of attentional control networks in preparation for the next trial. None of the ERP outcomes in this study were related to potential confounders which included cognitive and socioeconomic measures as well as ADHD diagnosis.
  
  
  
  The observed ERP group differences point to elements of perceptual and attentional processing likely to be involved in the performance deficits often observed in children with FASD. We also observed changes in ERPs related to conflict monitoring/response inhibition, highlighting fetal alcohol-related effects on how the brain responds when there is need to identify and respond to environmental cues by switching away from a prepotent motor response to an inhibited state.
authors.affiliation: MRC/UCT Medical Imaging Research Unit, Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Matthew M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Gerhold
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan.|Departments of Human Biology and Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Sandra W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Jacobson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan.|Departments of Human Biology and Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Joseph L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Jacobson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Christopher D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Molteno
authors.affiliation: MRC/UCT Medical Imaging Research Unit, Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Ernesta M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Meintjes
authors.affiliation: MRC/UCT Medical Imaging Research Unit, Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Colin M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Andrew
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004569:Electroencephalography / Q000379:methods; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D063647:Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Event-Related Potentials; Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders; Fetal Alcohol Syndrome; Go/NoGo; Prenatal Alcohol Exposure; Response Inhibition