It has been known that the consumption of alcohol during pregnancy can negatively alter the developing brain in a variety of ways. Any amount of alcohol consumed while pregnant could potentially lead to fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), a disorder that is greatly associated with behavioral and memory problems. Some potential causes of these factors include negative alterations to the hippocampus (an area of the brain associated with memory) and the prefrontal cortex (an area of the brain associated with making decisions). Additionally, children prenatally exposed to alcohol tend to display a decreased amount of brain volume in the subcortical region of the brain (a part of the brain that controls incoming information as well as emotions and basic motives).
Surprisingly, it has been shown that children and adolescents with low socioeconomic status (SES) tend to have the same decrease in brain volume in the same regions. Also, children with low SES are at an increased risk for the same behavioral and memory difficulties associated with prenatal alcohol exposure. Does this mean that children with low SES are more likely to have mothers who consumed alcohol during pregnancy? Well, there is controversial evidence stating that women with high SES are actually more likely to consume alcohol while pregnant than women with low SES. But, there is also evidence that women with low SES are more likely to drink heavily during pregnancy, usually resulting in a more severe diagnosis of FASD. As a result, there seems to be a link between prenatal exposure to alcohol and SES, although not very much research has been conducted to address this.
One study published in April 2020 aimed to explore these factors in children by examining changes in subcortical brain volume and the areas of the brain associated with FASD (hippocampus and prefrontal cortex). The study performed various memory and attention measures and used an MRI (a type of machine that takes pictures of the brain) to examine affected brain areas. SES was also measured by examining the education level and current income of the person primarily taking care of the child. The results of the study discovered that volumes of the subcortical brain regions in children who were prenatally exposed to alcohol were smaller compared to children who had not had this exposure. This conclusion is not surprising, as it has been stated above that these areas of the brain are important for emotions and motivations. Additionally, the study confirmed that children with low SES overall had smaller brain volumes than children with high SES. However, the results also concluded that children with prenatal alcohol exposure had small brain volumes regardless of SES. This means that children with high and low SES both tended to have small brain volumes in the subcortical areas if they were exposed to alcohol in the womb. This finding suggests that while socioeconomic status may be important for a developing brain, exposure to alcohol could potentially cause more damage.
This study also examined changes in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex in children previously exposed to alcohol and compared it to SES. These results have shown that children with prenatal alcohol exposure and children with low SES had negative alterations to the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. As these areas of the brain are important for memory and decision making, these findings suggest that both exposure to alcohol and SES are important for brain development in childhood. Although, as discussed above, exposure to alcohol may be more damaging. Overall, this study suggests that while a link between prenatal alcohol exposure and SES may be present, it may be more beneficial to focus on the effects of exposure to alcohol.
Reference:
Uban, K. A., Kan, E., Wozniak, J. R., Mattson, S. N., Coles, C. D., & Sowell, E. R. (2020). The relationship between socioeconomic status and brain volume in children and adolescents with prenatal alcohol exposure. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 14. https://doi-org.ezproxy.cbu.ca/10.3389/fnhum.2020.00085