Parietal dysfunction during number processing in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

• We use fMRI to examine the effects of prenatal alcohol on key number processing parietal regions.
• The children performed simple exact addition and magnitude comparison.
• Behavioral performance in the scanner was similar between groups in both tasks.
• Greater prenatal alcohol related to less activation in the right intraparietal sulcus.
• FAS/PFAS group compensate by using angular gyrus more during magnitude comparison.

Number processing deficits are frequently seen in children prenatally exposed to alcohol. Although the parietal lobe, which is known to mediate several key aspects of number processing, has been shown to be structurally impaired in fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), effects on functional activity in this region during number processing have not previously been investigated. This fMRI study of 49 children examined differences in activation associated with prenatal alcohol exposure in five key parietal regions involved in number processing, using tasks involving simple addition and magnitude comparison. Despite generally similar behavioral performance, in both tasks greater prenatal alcohol exposure was related to less activation in an anterior section of the right horizontal intraparietal sulcus known to mediate mental representation and manipulation of quantity. Children with fetal alcohol syndrome and partial fetal alcohol syndrome appeared to compensate for this deficit by increased activation of the angular gyrus during the magnitude comparison task.