negative relationship with the quantity of prenatal alcohol exposure while the caudate nuclei were reported as disproportionately reduced. These findings are consistent with prior studies suggesting vulnerability of these regions to alcohol. In addition, they reported that the bilateral pars opercularis, an area of the frontal lobes important for language ability, is negatively related to the quantity of alcohol exposure. Interestingly, the volumes of the bilateral lingual gyri, areas important for visual processing, were not only negatively related to the quantity of alcohol exposure but also were significantly reduced even after accounting for total brain size. Both verbal ability and visual-processing are affected in FASD, and the effects in the pars opercularis and lingual regions may contribute to some of these deficits.
