Functional magnetic resonance imaging outcomes from a comprehensive magnetic resonance study of children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

A comprehensive neuropsychological/psychiatric, MR imaging, (MRI), MR spectroscopy (MRS), and functional MRI (fMRI) assessment was administered to children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) to determine if global and/or focal abnormalities could be identified, and distinguish diagnostic subclassifications across the spectrum. The four study groups included: 1. FAS/Partial FAS; 2. Static Encephalopathy/Alcohol Exposed (SE/AE); 3. Neurobehavioral Disorder/Alcohol Exposed (ND/AE); and 4. healthy peers with no prenatal alcohol exposure. fMRI outcomes are reported here. The neuropsychological/psychiatric, MRI, and MRS outcomes are reported separately. fMRI was used to assess activation in seven brain regions during performance of N-back working memory tasks. Children across the full spectrum of FASD exhibited significant working memory deficits and altered activation patterns in brain regions that are known to be involved in working memory. These results demonstrate the potential research and diagnostic value of this non-invasive MR tool in the field of FASD

Neural Circuitry of Emotional and Cognitive Conflict Revealed through Facial Expressions

Neural systems underlying conflict processing have been well studied in the cognitive realm, but the extent to which these overlap with those underlying emotional conflict processing remains unclear. A novel adaptation of the AX Continuous Performance Task (AX-CPT), a stimulus-response incompatibility paradigm, was examined that permits close comparison of emotional and cognitive conflict conditions, through the use of affectively-valenced facial expressions as the response modality.Brain activity was monitored with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during performance of the emotional AX-CPT. Emotional conflict was manipulated on a trial-by-trial basis, by requiring contextually pre-cued facial expressions to emotional probe stimuli (IAPS images) that were either affectively compatible (low-conflict) or incompatible (high-conflict). The emotion condition was contrasted against a matched cognitive condition that was identical in all respects, except that probe stimuli were emotionally neutral. Components of the brain cognitive control network, including dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC), showed conflict-related activation increases in both conditions, but with higher activity during emotion conditions. In contrast, emotion conflict effects were not found in regions associated with affective processing, such as rostral ACC.These activation patterns provide evidence for a domain-general neural system that is active for both emotional and cognitive conflict processing. In line with previous behavioural evidence, greatest activity in these brain regions occurred when both emotional and cognitive influences additively combined to produce increased interference

High school drinking mediates the relationship between parental monitoring and college drinking: A longitudinal analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>College drinking is a significant public health problem. Although parental monitoring and supervision reduces the risk for alcohol consumption among younger adolescents, few studies have investigated the impact of earlier parental monitoring on later college drinking. This study examined whether parental monitoring indirectly exerts a protective effect on college drinking by reducing high school alcohol consumption.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A longitudinal cohort of 1,253 male and female students, ages 17 to 19, attending a large, public, mid-Atlantic university was studied at two time points. First, data on high school parental monitoring and alcohol consumption were gathered via questionnaire during the summer prior to college entry. Second, during the first year of college, past-year alcohol consumption was measured via a personal interview. Multiple regression models tested the relationship between parental monitoring and past year alcohol use (i.e., number of drinks per drinking day).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Holding constant demographics, SAT score, and religiosity, parental monitoring had a significant protective effect on both high school and college drinking level. However, the association between parental monitoring and college drinking level became non-significant once high school drinking level was held constant.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>While parental monitoring did not directly influence college alcohol consumption, evidence for mediation was observed, whereby parental monitoring had an indirect influence on college drinking through reductions in high school drinking. Initiatives that promote effective parenting might be an important strategy to curb high-risk drinking among older adolescents. More research is needed to understand the nature and degree of parent-child communication that is necessary to extend the protective influence of parents into the college years.</p