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Chunk #0 — INTRODUCTION

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Postnatal binge-like alcohol exposure decreases dendritic complexity while increasing the density of mature spines in mPFC Layer II/III pyramidal neurons.
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Prenatal alcohol exposure can result in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), which have been diagnosed in nearly 10 out of 10,000 live births each year (Abel, 1998). Patients with FASD exhibit a wide range of effects including physical, cognitive, learning and behavioral disabilities all of which are prominent throughout a lifespan (Calhoun et al., 2006). Gross neuroanatomical effects are evidenced in a relationship between frontal brain size and maternal alcohol consumption as well gray matter asymmetry in the frontal lobe of patients with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure (Wass et al., 2001; Sowell et al., 2002; Rasmussen, 2005). Patients with FASD also show mental effects such as a lack of inhibition, logical reasoning and flexible thinking (Rasmussen, 2005; Connor 2000; Kuboshima-Amemori & Sawaguchi, 2007). Moreover, learning problems, involving working memory and behavioral flexibility, also are apparent (Streissguth et al., 1994; Connor et al, 2000; Rasmussen, 2005). Finally, patients with FASD exhibit behavioral disabilities that are common in patients suffering from frontal lobe damage (Connor et al., 2000) including, but not limited to, executive functioning deficits, such as planning, organized search, inhibition,