Connectivity analysis of brain function in children with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder and control children during number processing

Herron, Robyn

Connectivity analysis of brain function in children with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder and control children during number processing

Master Thesis

2008

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Division of Biomedical Engineering

Faculty

Faculty of Health Sciences

Abstract

Maternal drinking during pregnancy is a significant problem in the Western Cape, South Africa, with an accompanying high incidence of children diagnosed with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Little is known about the neural correlates governing the disorder that manifest as behavioural abnormalities and cognitive impairments, particularly in arithmethic calculation, repeatedly reported in affected children. The effect of prenatal alcohol exposure on number processing in children was investigated in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study (Meintjes et al., 2007). The results indicate significant differences in activation between alcohol-exposed and non-exposed control children during Exact Addition and Proximity Judgement tasks. This raised the question of whether the groups of children differ in functional connectivity during the number processing tasks. Therefore, the objective of this study was to analyse connectivity between functionally specialised brain areas in the previously collected fMRI data. The fMRI data of 14 controls and 7 alcohol-exposed children for Exact Addition and 15 controls and 9 alcohol-exposed children for Proximity Judgement was available for analysis. A primary aim was to determine normal functional connectivity in control children during number processing and a secondary aim, to investigate any differences in functional connectivity in children with FASD.

Description

Includes abstract.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-91).

Keywords

Biomedical Engineering

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