Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Eye blinks identify fetal alcohol syndrome

Examining eye blinks can identify children with probable fetal alcohol syndrome in alcohol-exposed children, U.S. researchers said.

The study, published in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, found children lacking the distinctive facial effects linked to fetal alcohol syndrome could still be identified as having alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder using a test called eyeblink conditioning.

"Eyeblink conditioning is a Pavlovian paradigm that involves temporal pairing of a conditioned stimulus, such as a tone, with an unconditioned stimulus, such as an air puff," study first author Sandra Jacobson of Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit said in a statement. The link between eyeblink conditioning impairment by alcohol exposure during pregnancy has already been found in animal studies, Jacobson explained.

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