Lower resting state functional connectivity partially mediates adverse effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on arithmetic performance in children

Jia Fan; Keri J Woods; Joseph L Jacobson; Paul A Taylor; Jadrana T F Toich; Christopher D Molteno; Sandra W Jacobson; Ernesta M Meintjes

doi:10.1111/acer.15332

Lower resting state functional connectivity partially mediates adverse effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on arithmetic performance in children

Alcohol Clin Exp Res (Hoboken). 2024 May 2. doi: 10.1111/acer.15332. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Jia Fan^{1

2}, Keri J Woods^{1

2}, Joseph L Jacobson^{3

4}, Paul A Taylor⁵, Jadrana T F Toich¹, Christopher D Molteno⁶, Sandra W Jacobson^{3

4

6}, Ernesta M Meintjes^{1

2

7}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
² Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
³ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan, USA.
⁴ Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
⁵ Scientific and Statistical Computing Core, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
⁶ Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
⁷ Cape Universities Body Imaging Centre, Cape Town, South Africa.

PMID: 38697927
DOI: 10.1111/acer.15332

Abstract

Background: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) include a range of neurocognitive and behavioral impairments resulting from prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE). Among the PAE-related cognitive deficits, number processing is particularly affected. This study examines alterations in number processing networks and whether changes in functional connectivity mediate the adverse effects of PAE on arithmetic performance.

Methods: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was acquired in 57 children (mean (SD) age = 11.3 (+0.9) yr), 38 with FASD (19 fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) or partial FAS (PFAS), 19 heavily exposed (HE)) and 19 controls. Whole-brain correlation analyses were performed from five seeds located in regions involved in number processing.

Results: Children with FAS/PFAS showed dose-dependent reductions in resting state functional connectivity between the seed in the right (R) posterior superior parietal lobule and a cluster in the left (L) inferior frontal gyrus, and between a seed in the R horizontal intraparietal sulcus and clusters in the R precentral gyrus and L cerebellar lobule VI. HE children showed lower resting state functional connectivity in a subset of these regions. Lower functional connectivity in the two fronto-parietal connections partially mediated the adverse effects of PAE on arithmetic performance.

Conclusion: This study demonstrates PAE-related functional connectivity impairments in functional networks involved in number processing. The weaker connectivity between the R posterior superior parietal lobule and the L inferior frontal gyrus suggests that impaired verbal processing and visuospatial working memory may play a role in number processing deficits, while weaker connectivity between the R intraparietal sulcus and the R precentral gyrus points to poorer finger-based numerical representation, which has been linked to arithmetic computational skills.

Keywords: arithmetic; fetal alcohol spectrum disorders; number processing; prenatal alcohol exposure; resting‐state functional MRI; resting‐state functional connectivity.

Abstract

Grants and funding