As discussed in the Mattson et al article (this volume), the identification of a behavioral phenotype related to prenatal alcohol would be a major advance in assisting with the diagnosis of the full range of effects from prenatal alcohol exposure. A similar theme is discussed in the paper by Jacobson et al., where the authors propose the use of specific cognitive measures to assist in identifying individuals prenatally exposed to alcohol. Children with histories of in utero alcohol exposure show specific deficits in magnitude comparisons and in eyeblink conditioning. The authors review these studies and draw relationships to the underlying brain mechanisms involved in these behaviors observed in individuals with FASD. Of importance, because the neural mechanisms underlying these behaviors are known, they can be assessed early in life to identify potentially high-risk infants and may also be useful in determining the influence of therapeutic interventions.
