Developmental alcohol and toxic stress exposure are teratogens that increase an individual’s risk for developing behavioral problems and psychiatric disorders later in life (Shea et al., 2005; Streissguth et al., 2004). Many of the brain regions affected by developmental stress are also targets of prenatal alcohol, including the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, HPA axis, and cerebellum. The susceptibility of the epigenome to developmental alcohol or stress exposure is becoming apparent, with similarities including: 1) altered methylation states of genes involved in neural development, plasticity, and regulation of the HPA axis; 2) altered levels of epigenetic regulators including DNMTs and MeCP2; 3) changes in non-coding RNA expression; and 4) sex-specific consequences.
