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Moderate prenatal exposure to alcohol and stress in monkeys can cause touch sensitivity
Date:2/6/2008

lcohol prenatally.

Using a brain neuro-imaging technique known as positron emission tomography, or PET, the researchers found that the monkeys sensitivities to touch were related to changes in a brain chemical called dopamine in one area of the brain, the striatum. Regulating dopamine plays a crucial role in mental and physical health. Particularly important for learning, dopamine plays a major role in addictions.

Our findings with monkeys suggest that when mothers are under stress and/or drink alcohol while pregnant, their offspring are at risk for sensory sensitivities, notes Schneider.

Schneider called for further studies to determine whether reducing sensory sensitivities at an early age in children might help prevent the development of fetal alcohol-related behavioral problems.

Our findings also have important implications for women of childbearing age, she added, suggesting that sensory sensitivities might be reduced by decreasing stress levels and abstaining from alcohol during pregnancy or if planning pregnancy.


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Contact: Andrea Browning
abrowning@srcd.org
202-289-7905
Society for Research in Child Development
Source:Eurekalert

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