health
Eyeblink conditioning may help assess children with fetal alcohol exposure
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum
Disorder (FASD) is an irrevers- ible disorder in children that affects the learning centers of the brain and results in life- time cognitive and behavioral impairment.
A major problem in study-
ing and treating FASD is that it is difficult to diagnose. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), the most severe form of the disor- der, is characterized by a dis- tinct set of facial features and growth retardation.
But a majority of alcohol-
exposed children lack these features making it more diffi- cult to identify them.
A new study by research-
ers at Wayne State University released in the February 2011 issue of Alcoholism: Clini- cal & Experimental Research, which is currently available at Early View, has researched this problem
It was discovered that by
using classical conditioning methods, a consistent FASD deficit has been identified.
The study, “Impaired delay
and trace eyeblink condition- ing in school-age children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome,” led by Sandra Jacobson, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at Wayne State University’s School of Medicine, and hon- orary professor at Univer- sity of Cape Town Faculty of Health Sciences, examined whether heavy prenatal alco- hol exposure has an impact on both delay and trace learning in school-age children.
The research team tested
63 school-age children on delay conditioning, and then returned to test 32 of the same
children on trace conditioning 1.5 years later in Cape Town, South Africa, an area that suf- fers from high rates of heavy drinking during pregnancy by women.
The study involved pairing
a tone with a puff of air to the child’s eye, causing the child to blink.
The goal was to determine
if heavy alcohol exposure af- fected the child’s ability to as- sociate the tone with the puff, causing them to blink when the tone was heard.
Delay conditioning involves
an overlap between the tone and the puff of air, while trace conditioning involves the more difficult task of introducing a stimulus-free interval between the tone and air puff.
“Although trace condition-
ing is more complex, we found that the impact of prenatal al- cohol exposure on both forms of conditioning was similar in magnitude,” said Jacobson. “This suggests that the alco- hol effect on the cerebellar neural circuits that mediate both forms of conditioning may be responsible for the deficits seen in both tasks.”
This study suggests that
eyeblink conditioning could provide a good model for as- sessing and identifying alco- hol-affected children.
Co-authors of the paper in-
cluded Mark E. Stanton, Uni- versity of Delaware; Joseph L. Jacobson, Wayne State Uni- versity; Christopher D. Mol- teno, University of Cape Town Faculty of Health Sciences.
To view the full paper, visit
http://onlinelibrary.wiley. com/doi /10.1111/ j .1530- 0277.2010.01341.x/full.
dents that they still have opportunities to donate nonperishable food items to the Michigan Harvest Gathering program.
Food collection continues “There’s still time to help Michigan families in need this holi-
Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land reminds Michigan resi-
day season,” Land said. “Even in our great state, 1 in 6 children is at risk of hunger, but every dollar donated helps provide five meals. Please take a moment to assist someone who could use a helping hand by donating food or funds.”
Food donations are being collected at Secretary of State
branch offices through Friday, Dec. 10. Financial donations may be made online at
www.feedmichigan.org.
To find the nearest office, visit the Branch Office Locator at
www.Michigan.gov/sos.
Judge Nathaniel Jones
FRONT ROW: Pepper Hamilton LLP Partner Abraham Singer, Cooley Law School Professor Dan Ray, District Court Judge Joseph Oster, U.S. District Judge Denise Hood, Michigan Su- preme Court Chief Justice Marilyn Kelly, Retired 6th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge James Ryan, U.S. District Judge David Lawson, and Former 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Nathaniel Jones gather with Cooley Law School students who helped with the program.
Special to the Chronicle Southeast Michigan’s racial segregation was set in stone
when Michigan and federal courts decided in 1970s to prevent schools from integrating by using school busing, civil rights at- torney Nathaniel Jones told more than 200 people attending a day-long review of the historic trial, sponsored by the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion.
The community and the nation have yet to recover from that
decision and its repercussions, Jones said at the reenactment and discussion of the historic Milliken v. Bradley cross district bussing case. The event was held at the Thomas M. Cooley Law Schools Auburn Hills Campus Oct. 29, before an audience that included students from seven Detroit high schools.
“Public education in this country would be totally different
and not only would education be different, but the landscape of this nation would be different,” he said.
Jones led a panel discussion as part of a cooperative event
of the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion and Thomas M. Cooley Law School - From Redlining to White Flight: The History of Housing Segregation and the Importance of Re- gionalism.
“Where we live determines how we live far too often, and up
until the last century the ability to live anywhere in metro De- troit was a privilege reserved for a few,” said Thomas Costello, president and CEO of the Michigan Roundtable. “We’re here today because race is still a critical issue in metro Detroit, a major stumbling block for any serious efforts to revitalize our region and regain our prosperity. We must rebuild Detroit if we are going to be a prosperous region and state. One of our biggest impediments to rebuilding Detroit is the division between black and white in our region.”
The program examined how past practices and legal deci-
sions contributed to today’s segregated housing patterns and school systems seen in metro Detroit, widely considered the most segregated in the nation. The program was part of a larger project of the Michigan Roundtable called Race, Residence and Regionalism, which will include the creation of a Truth Com- mission over the next year to examine how racial segregation has hindered the region’s economic growth.
“Before we can move forward on access, equity and inclusion
issues in our community, it is vital we recognize the root causes of our region’s extraordinary rate of segregation,” said Freda G. Sampson, Project Manager for the Michigan Roundtable. “This event provided valuable insight into how a change in history may have created a different region in and around Detroit and how Detroit can best move forward.”
The Redlining to White Flight program examined the impact
of the Milliken v. Bradley historic cross-bussing case that took place in August of 1970 in Southeast Michigan.
THE MICHIGAN CHRONICLE
November 24-30, 2010
Page D-7
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