ALCOHOL EXPOSURE, SOCIAL BEHAVIOR, AND THE AMYGDALA

患有胎儿酒精综合征（FAS）的人已知有认知缺陷。然而，与具有类似认知缺陷但未暴露于酒精的个体相比，FAS个体在社会行为方面表现出更多的缺陷。这一观察和其他观察导致了酒精如何影响社会行为的问题。此外，杏仁核被认为在社会行为中起着重要作用，并受到围产期酒精暴露的不利影响。本研究将探讨孕期三个月酒精暴露对杏仁核的影响。无偏体视学将用于比较杏仁核的体积差异。本实验的目的是为酒精暴露诱导发育缺陷的神经机制提供证据。此外，还将调查可能存在的性别差异。

People with Fetal Alcohol Sydrome (FAS) are known to have cognitive deficits. However, in comparison to individuals with similar cognitive deficits but were not exposed to alcohol, FAS individuals show more deficits in social behavior. This observation and others have lead to the question of how alcohol affects social behavior. In addition, the amygdala is thought to play an important role in social behavior and is adversely affected by the perinatal-alcohol exposure. This research will investigate the effect of prenatal alcohol exposure during three trimester equivalents on the amygdala. Unbiased-stereology will be used to compare volume differences in the amygdala nuclei. It is goal of this experiment to provide evidence for a neural mechanism for the deficits induced by alcohol exposure during development. In addition, possible gender differences will also be investigated.