Estimating the neurocognitive effects of an early intervention program for children with prenatal alcohol exposure

Parvaneh Yazdani, Mary Motz, Gideon Koren

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

8 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: Animal studies suggest that early intervention in pups exposed heavily to ethanol in utero can mitigate their neurocognitive damage. No human studies on this promising mechanism exists. Methods: Breaking the Cycle is an early intervention program for drug-and alcohol addicted mothers and their young children. We compared BSID-III scores between infants heavily exposed to ethanol and a group exposed only to drugs of abuse, mainly cocaine. Both groups benefited from all aspects of our early intervention program. Results: The two groups did not differ in any aspect of the BSID-III. These data are in contradistinction to the damage seen in heavily ethanol- exposed infants not benefiting from early intervention. Conclusions: This pilot suggests that early intervention may mitigate some of the well described damages caused by heavy in utero alcohol exposure.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)e453-e459
JournalJournal of Population Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology
Volume16
Issue number3
StatePublished - 2009
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Estimating the neurocognitive effects of an early intervention program for children with prenatal alcohol exposure'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this