Our results provide more evidence for a structural correlate of some of the behavioral deficits observed in FASD patients. FASD is associated with morphological changes in the PFC, including frontal brain size changes (Wass, Persutte & Hobbins, 2001) and frontal lobe gray matter asymmetry (Sowell et al., 2002). Decreased dendritic length and complexity in mPFC could add to the changes in the functioning of neurons in mPFC, which in turn would affect behavior. The lack of change in spine density on basilar dendrites accompanied by the significant decrease of spine density on apical dendrites in this animal model of FAS highlights how spines can be differentially affected by developmental alcohol exposure. It is not clear if these changes in dendritic and spine morphology result from the direct effect of alcohol on pyramidal neurons in the cortex or they are secondary to the alcohol-induced changes in the afferent connections. Future work with this animal model should attempt to further uncover changes in mPFC and its intrinsic and extrinsic connections, as well as identify potential ameliorative mechanisms.
