SPATIAL BUT NOT OBJECT MEMORY IMPAIRMENTS IN CHILDREN WITH FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME

Behavioral dissociations on tests of cognitive abilities are powerful tools that can help define the neuropsychology of developmentally disa bling conditions. Animals gestationally exposed to alcohol demonstrate spatial (place) but not object (cue) memory impairments. Whether chil dren with fetal alcohol syndrome demonstrate a similar dissociation ha s received little attention. In this experiment, 30 Native American ch ildren, 15 previously identified with fetal alcohol syndrome and 15 co ntrol children, were asked to recall places and objects in a task prev iously shown to be sensitive to memory skills in individuals with and without mental retardation. As in animal models, children with fetal a lcohol syndrome demonstrated a spatial but not an object memory impair ment. A possible role for the hippocampus was discussed.