Sowell et al. measured the area of cerebellar vermis from brain MRI of children and young adults with prenatal alcohol exposure. From the midsagittal MRI section, three vermal areas were circumscribed: anterior vermis (vermal lobules I-V), posterior vermis (vermal lobules VI and VII), and the remaining vermal area (including lobules VIII-X). Both FAS subjects as well as the non-dysmorphic subjects with PEA showed significant volume reductions in the anterior cerebellar vermis (lobules I-V). The volume differences remained significant even after controlling for overall reductions in brain size. These findings point to an abnormal pattern of brain development in the anterior vermal region, with apparent sparing in the posterior vermal region subsequent to PEA, suggesting that regionally specific Purkinje cell death may be occurring in humans prenatally exposed to alcohol 159.
