Emotion-related learning in individuals prenatally exposed to alcohol: an investigation of the relation between set shifting, extinction of responses, and behavior

The association between deficits in emotion-related learning, conceptual se t shifting, and behavioral problems was investigated in individuals with su bstantial prenatal alcohol exposure. Twenty subjects with confirmed prenata l alcohol exposure (10 of whom were diagnosed as having Fetal Alcohol Syndr ome) and 20 normal controls matched for ape, gender, and ethnic background participated. The two groups were administered a battery of tests including two tests of emotion-related learning (visual discrimination reversal and extinction of reward-response associations), tests of conceptual set shifti ng and intellectual ability. and behavioral measures. The alcohol-exposed g roup made feu;er reversals than the control group in visual discrimination reversal and exhibited more variability in extinction. These group differen ces remained significant after controlling for intellectual ability and con ceptual set shifting. Variability in extinction and two measures of set shi fting. perseverative errors on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and omission errors on reversal learning, were found to be robust predictors of parent- rated behavioral problems. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserv ed.