Neural Correlates of Brain Dysmorphology to Arithmetic Deficits in Children with FASD
Poster No:
334
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Dakalo Ratshivhombela1, Xoli Thusini1, Catherine Namayega1, Tinashe Mutsvangwa1, Joseph Jacobson2, Ernesta Meintjes1, Sandra Jacobson2, Jia Fan1
Institutions:
1University of Cape Town, Cape Town, Western Cape, 2Wayne State UniversitySchool of Medicine, Detroit, MI
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Introduction:
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) encompasses a range of physical, neurocognitive, and neurobehavioral impairments resulting from prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) [Streissguth et al., 2004; Hoyme et al., 2016]. Among the neurocognitive deficits associated with PAE, difficulties in arithmetic and number processing are particularly pronounced [Streissguth et al., 2004]. The superior parietal gyri (SPG) are linked to arithmetic and number processing [Dehaene & Cohen, 1995]. This study investigated SPG alterations using MRI and examined whether these changes mediated the adverse effects of PAE on arithmetic performance.
Methods:
Fifty-seven right-handed children (mean age ± SD: 11.3 ± 0.9 years; 22 males, 35 females) were recruited from the Cape Town Longitudinal Study [Jacobson et al., 2008]. The cohort included 19 children diagnosed with full or partial fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS/PFAS), 19 non-syndromal heavily exposed (HE) children, and 19 non- or minimally-exposed control (Ctl) children. Maternal alcohol consumption was recorded through timeline follow-back interviews [Jacobson et al., 2002] and converted to absolute alcohol per day (AA/day). The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV (WISC-IV) IQ test was administered during an earlier visit (10.2 ± 0.8 years) [Lewis et al., 2015]. Number processing data were obtained from the WISC-IV Arithmetic subset. High-resolution T1-weighted structural images were acquired on a Siemens 3T Allegra scanner (Erlangen, Germany) using a 3D EPI-navigated multiecho MPRAGE sequence. The left (L-) and right (R-) SPG were extracted using the Automated Anatomical Labelling 116 (AAL116) atlas. Statistical shape models (SSM) were conducted using Scalable Image Analysis and Shape Modelling (Scalismo) software, allowing for comparisons of mean shapes across groups to identify significant morphological changes in surgical planes.
Results:
Volume reductions were observed in both brain regions, with a significant reduction noted only in the R-SPG (p = 0.25) compared to the L-SPG (p = 0.52). The mean shape of the R-SPG is shown in Figure 1, and Figure 2 illustrates the morphological changes across the groups. A decrease in the R-SLG was observed in all three anatomical planes when compared to the control and HE groups. Previous studies have linked PAE to cortical thinning in the superior parietal lobule [Zhou et al., 2011], whole-brain volume reduction [Nardelli et al., 2011], and surface area reduction [Rajaprakash et al., 2013]. We assessed the volume reduction of each ROI as a proportion of the total gray matter (GM) in the R-SPG (p = 0.26) and L-SPG (p = 0.53), which were consistent with the initial volume analysis. Consequently, follow-up analyses were conducted using the initial volume analysis. The reduction in the R-SPG was significantly correlated with AA/day (r = -0.37; p = 0.005) and remained significant after controlling for potential confounders (r = -0.31; p = 0.02). These confounders included child sex, age at scan, postnatal lead exposure, total gray matter volume, maternal age at delivery, years of education, and cigarettes smoked per day during pregnancy. In our mediation analysis, the standardized regression coefficient for AA/day in relation to WISC-IV Arithmetic (τ = -0.26) decreased significantly when the R-SPG volume (τ′ = -0.12) was included in the regression.
Conclusions:
The study revealed PAE-related reductions in volume in the L- and R- SPG, which are essential for arithmetic function and number processing. These volume changes were associated with arithmetic deficits, suggesting that reduced volume in these regions contributes to the arithmetic and number processing difficulties observed in FASD. The findings support the conclusions of Fan et al. [2024], which proposed that PAE-induced decreases in resting-state functional connectivity underlie arithmetic deficits.
Disorders of the Nervous System:
Neurodevelopmental/ Early Life (eg. ADHD, autism) 1
Modeling and Analysis Methods:
Image Registration and Computational Anatomy 2
Keywords:
Data analysis
Data Registration
Development
DISORDERS
MRI
PEDIATRIC
Pediatric Disorders
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Abstract Information
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Provide references using APA citation style.
Fan, J., Woods, K.J., Jacobson, J.L., Taylor, P.A., Toich, J.T.F., Molteno, C.D., Jacobson, S.W. & Meintjes E.M. (2024). Lower resting state functional connectivity partially mediates adverse effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on arithmetic performance in children. Alcohol Clin Exp Res (Hoboken), 48(6),1050-1062.
Hoyme, H. E., Kalberg, W. O., Elliott, A. J., Blankenship, J., Buckley, D., Marais, A. S., Manning, M. A., Robinson, L. K. et al. (2016). Updated Clinical Guidelines for Diagnosing Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. Pediatrics, 138(2).
Jacobson, S.W., Chiodo, L.M., Sokol, R.J. & Jacobson, J.L. (2002). Validity of Maternal Report of Prenatal Alcohol, Cocaine, and Smoking in Relation to Neurobehavioral Outcome. Pediatrics, 109 (5): 815–825.
Jacobson, S. W., Stanton, M. E., Molteno, C. D., Burden, M. J., Fuller, D. S., Hoyme, H. E., Robinson, L. K., Khaole, N. et al. (2008). Impaired Eyeblink Conditioning in Children With Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 32(2), 365-372.
Lewis, C.E., Thomas, K.G., Dodge, N.C., Molteno, C.D., Meintjes, E.M., Jacobson, J.L. & Jacobson, S.W. (2015). Verbal learning and memory impair ment in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 39(4), 724–732.
Nardelli, A., Lebel, C., Rasmussen, C., Andrew, G. & Beaulieu, C. (2011). Extensive Deep Gray Matter Volume Reductions in Children and Adolescents with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 35(8), 1404-1417.
Rajaprakash, M., Chakravarty, M. M., Lerch, J. P. & Rovet, J. (2013). Cortical morphology in children with alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder. Brain and Behavior, 4 (1), 41-50.
Streissguth, A.P., Bookstein, F.L., Barr, H.M., Sampson, P.D., O'Malley, K., Young, J.K. (2004). Risk factors for adverse life outcomes in fetal alcohol syndrome and fetal alcohol effects. J Dev Behav Pediatr, 25(4), 228–238.
Zhou, D., Lebel, C., Lepage, C., Rasmussen, C., Evans, A., Wyper, K., Pei, J. & Andrew, G. (2011). Developmental cortical thinning in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. NeuroImage, 58(1), 16-25.