REPLY TO THE DISCUSSION. 250 WORDS
Despite being preventable and discussed extensively in public health, fetal alcohol syndrome is one of the leading causes of intellectual disabilities (“The Causes and Prevention of Intellectual Disability”, n.d.). Fetal alcohol syndrome is caused by the consumption of alcohol from the mother during pregnancy. The ethanol and toxic alcohol metabolites get transferred from mother to fetus through the placenta. Because the fetus does not have the capabilities to metabolize these compounds, it quickly builds up inside the fetus. These compounds negatively affect cell division, proliferation, growth, and differentiation (Osmosis, 2020). While most healthy adults have the enzymes to digest alcohol, the ethanol and alcohol metabolites are directly transferred to the fetus through the placenta. We see damage in the brain from fetal alcohol syndrome in incomplete development of the corpus callosum, smaller cerebellum (cerebellar hypoplasia), and damaged frontal cortex and hippocampus (Osmosis, 2020). Alcohol consumption at different trimesters of the pregnancy all negatively affects the central nervous system, disrupting learning and memory, cognition, emotion, and coordination (“Understanding Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD)”, n.d.). The facial characteristics associated with FAS occur from alcohol consumption primarily in the first trimester. The facial characteristics of FAS consist of short palpebral fissures, smooth philtrum, and thin upper vermillion (Riley et al., 2011). While we are seeing advancement in research on neurogenesis, we have to consider childhood development such as Piaget’s theory of cognitive development. Piaget’s theory focuses on the development of certain cognitive functions at different stages are age ranges of a child (Cherry, 2020). If hypothetically, research and medicine on neurogenesis have developed to the point where we could “repair” brain damage seen in fetal alcohol syndrome, there are still the negative effects of missing out in the stages of cognitive development. Language acquisition is another concept in which is heavily affected by childhood experiences. It may be the case that neurogenesis and “complete repair” may increase the learning capabilities of adults and those suffering from mental disorders, but there are certain cases in which normal (properly developed brain from pregnancy to birth) people have had poor childhood experiences, leading them to develop behavior disorders. Unfortunately, we can’t look towards neurogenesis as a cure-all, but we can still utilize it to improve quality of life.
