Abstract
This chapter reviews the effect of alcohol on the behavioral and neurochemical aspects of mammalian development. Evidence is presented in the chapter to suggest that the behavioral changes seen in the rat following pre-natal exposure to the drug may bear some similarity to those seen in children suffering from the foetal alcohol syndrome. The term foetal alcohol effects have recently been suggested by Streissguth and Martin to describe the less extreme changes. In common with other birth defects, affected children show considerable individual variation regarding the severity of the damage. Despite the wide recognition of the existence of the foetal alcohol syndrome, controversy exists regarding the importance of alcohol exposure as the sole factor causing the syndrome. The effects of alcohol on the lipid composition of the neuronal membranes, and on the function of neural cell adhesion molecules (N-CAM) during critical stages of neuro-ontogenesis, are probably of primary importance in determining the selective neurotoxicity of alcohol.
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