Fetal Alcohol Exposure and Sensorimotor Cortex Function

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Children of mothers who consume significant amounts of alcohol during pregnancy exhibit delayed development, deficits in language and learning, and impaired visuospatial and sensorimotor abilities, including poor balance and gross/fine motor coordination. This range of deficits underscores a disruption of central nervous system (CNS) processing in fetal alcohol exposure (FAE). In humans, such CNS disabilities negatively impact quality of life. Our incomplete understanding of the effects of FAE on CNS processing limits our ability to ameliorate these deficits. By using a model system and techniques in which we are expert, we will elucidate the specific disruptions caused by FAE in sensorimotor systems and test potential mechanisms. By understanding the biological bases of alcohol-related neurological abnormalities related to sensorimotor functions, we can hope to achieve improved training strategies for rehabilitation in FAE-impaired children. We will test the hypothesis that FAE alters the organization of somatosensory cortex and motor cortex and the pathway for the transfer of information between these regions. We will examine potential mechanisms for sensorimotor deficits following FAE. The sensorimotor system in adult rats will serve as our model system. We will study CNS processing using the well-characterized forepaw barrel subfield (FBS) in somatosensory cortex associated with the representation of the forepaw for somatosensory investigations, the forelimb representation in motor cortex and the output pathway for motor investigations, and the pathway between forelimb sensory and motor cortices for sensorimotor integration studies. We have previously studied somatosensory cortex in newborn and adult rats and the functional organization of mouse motor cortex that provide foundations for the proposed studies. The proposal incorporates techniques for structural and functional mapping, in-vivo intracellular recording and labeling, microstimulation, anatomical tracing, immunocytochemistry, and electron microscopy that are routinely used in our laboratories. Specific Aims will compare FAE rats with pair-fed, chow-fed, and cross-fostered control rats.