Focused and shifting attention in children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure.

Attention deficits are a hallmark of the teratogenic effects of alcohol. However, characterization of these deficits remains inconclusive. Children with heavy prenatal alcohol exposure and nonexposed controls were evaluated using a paradigm consisting of three conditions: visual focus, auditory focus, and auditory-visual shift of attention.

Interaction of maternal smoking and other in-pregnancy exposures: analytic considerations.

The teratogenicity of cigarette smoke has been widely researched over the past two decades, in large part due to the work of Fried et al. The current study was designed to investigate some methodological issues surrounding the investigation of the effects of maternal smoking along with other potentially teratogenic agents in pregnancy. Specifically, maternal smoking was investigated both as a covariate and with regards to its main and interactive effects on child IQ in a prospectively ascertained sample of children whose mothers reported pregnancy exposures to four classes of agents: varicella virus infection (VC), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) and benzodiazepines (BZDs).