School-aged children diagnosed with an FASD exhibit visuo-cortical network disturbance: A magnetoencephalography (MEG) study

Authors

Zinia Pervin, The Mind Research Network, A Division of Lovelace Biomedical Research Institute, Albuquerque, NM 87106, United States; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, United States
John F L Pinner, The Mind Research Network, A Division of Lovelace Biomedical Research Institute, Albuquerque, NM 87106, United States
Lucinda Flynn, The Mind Research Network, A Division of Lovelace Biomedical Research Institute, Albuquerque, NM 87106, United States
Cassandra M. Cerros, Health Sciences Center, School of Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, United States
Mareth E. Williams, Health Sciences Center, School of Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, United States
Dina E. Hill, Health Sciences Center, School of Medicine, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, United States
Julia M. Stephen, The Mind Research Network, A Division of Lovelace Biomedical Research Institute, Albuquerque, NM 87106, United States

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-1-2022

Abstract

Children with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) often suffer from cognitive and neurobehavioral dysfunction throughout their lives, which may rise to a level of concern such that children receive a diagnosis under the fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) umbrella. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) contributes direct insight into neural processing and functional connectivity measures with temporal precision to understand cortical processing disorders that manifest during development. The impairment of perception may become more consequential among school-aged children with an FASD in the process of intellectual functioning and behavioral maturation. Fifty participants with the age range of 8-13 years participated in our study following parental informed consent and child assent. For each participant, visual responses were recorded using magnetoencephalography (MEG) while performing a prosaccade task with central stimuli (fovea centralis) and peripheral stimuli (left and right of central) presented on a screen, requiring participants to shift their gaze to the stimuli. After source analysis using minimum norm estimation (MNE), we investigated visual responses from each participant by measuring the latency and amplitude of visual evoked fields. Delayed peak latency of the visual response was identified in the primary visual area (calcarine fissure) and visual association areas (v2, v3) in young children with an FASD for both stimulus types (central and peripheral). But the difference in visual response latency was only statistically significant (p ≤ 0.01) for the peripheral (right) stimulus. We also observed reduced amplitude (p ≤ 0.006) of visual evoked response in children with an FASD for the central stimulus type in both primary and visual association areas. Multiple visual areas show impairment in children with an FASD, with visual delay and conduction disturbance more prominent in response to peripheral stimuli. Children with an FASD also exhibit significantly reduced amplitude of neural activation to central stimuli. These sensory deficits may lead to slow cognitive processing speed through continued intra-cortical network disturbance in children with an FASD.

Publisher

Elsevier Science

Publication Title

Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.)

ISSN

1873-6823

Volume

99

First Page

59

Last Page

69

DOI

10.1016/j.alcohol.2021.12.001

Recommended Citation

Pervin Z, Pinner JFL, Flynn L, Cerros CM, Williams ME, Hill DE, Stephen JM. School-aged children diagnosed with an FASD exhibit visuo-cortical network disturbance: A magnetoencephalography (MEG) study. Alcohol. 2022 Mar;99:59-69. doi: 10.1016/j.alcohol.2021.12.001. Epub 2021 Dec 13. PMID: 34915151; PMCID: PMC9113084.

Comments

• PMCID: PMC9113084 (available on 2023-03-01)