It’s no secret that moderate to heavy drinking during pregnancy can have negative effects on the fetus. A new study published in the August issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research confirms that babies whose mothers drank while they were pregnant have slower reaction times and are less attentive. These problems may be at the root of later behavioral problems.
Matthew Burden of Wayne State University, who co-authored the study, explained that the mother’s consumption of alcohol has a direct impact on the baby’s brain, lowering the IQ. However, he stresses that even small amounts of alcohol can cause damage.
The Wayne State study selected 337 African-American children who had been exposed to moderate-to-heavy drinking in the womb. Their mothers had been screened previously. The study began when the children were 7-1/2-years old.
The study focuses on four areas - short-term memory scanning, mental rotation, number comparison, and arrow-discrimination processing. Burden explains that these areas allow for more specific study
'This helps to distinguish potentially specific deficits from those that are more global in nature;” he said, “That way we get a better understanding of how prenatal alcohol exposure affects cognitive functioning many years later in childhood”
The results indicate that while the children had no significant trouble performing simple tasks, their processing speed slowed down when they had to think about the answer. This could affect their ability to handle challenging tasks that require a combination of quick cognition and memory.
The study took into consideration home environment, socioeconomic status, and current maternal drinking patterns, all of which can also contribute to learning problems. Even with these considerations, Burden says that, 'The effect of alcohol exposure in utero persisted above and beyond any other influences present.'
