A fMRI study in adolescents and young adults with PEA found significant reductions in metabolic activity in the thalamus, caudate heads and the right caudate and putamen bodies as compared to controls164. Cortese et al. reported MRS findings in a small group of children with PEA. The caudate nucleus was not only found to be significantly smaller in the group with PEA, but the metabolite ratio of NAA to Cr was also found to be elevated in the left caudate nucleus compared to controls165. Elevated NAA/Cr was found to be secondary to NAA elevations, raising the possibility of deficient apoptosis, dendritic pruning or myelination in the FASD group165.
