Rajaprakash et al. [12] examined cortical brain alterations associated with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure in children and adolescents diagnosed with Alcohol Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder (ARND). Reductions in absolute total brain volume as well as cortical volume and surface area were found. When examining regional effects, both diminished cortical grey matter volume and surface area were apparent in bilateral frontal regions. Total volume reductions were observed in bilateral parietal, and right temporal cortices; while surface area reductions were seen in bilateral temporal and the right occipital cortex. However, these reductions were not evident after correcting for total brain volume and no alterations were seen in cortical thickness. Prior work is mixed regarding the relationship between prenatal alcohol exposure and cortical thickness, reporting both increases [13-15] as well as decreases [16]. Other studies have found disproportionate volumetric reductions in specific brain areas [17, 18, 11] however those reports included individuals with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure who fell along the entire continuum of diagnoses, including those with facial dysmorphology. In the study by Rajaprakash et al. children with ARND had heavey prenatal alcohol
