The cerebellum is a region of the fetal brain that is particularly vulnerable to damage by ethanol in utero. Motor hyperactivity is often reported in children with FASD. Children with FASD perform poorly on fine motor coordination and reaching tasks (209) and have deficits in postural balance (210). Recently, children diagnosed with FASD were found to have poor saccade accuracy (211), a task dependent on the cerebellum (212). Motor performance can readily be evaluated in animal models using standardized tasks that include the rotarod, runway, directed reaching, and gait analyses.
