Italian Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: cognitive and behavioral deficits.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) refer to a group of clinical conditions that occur in a person exposed to alcohol before birth. Neuroimaging shows abnormalities in brain structure, cortical development, white matter microstructure, and functional connectivity in individuals with FASD. These abnormalities modify the normal developmental trajectories resulting in deficits in cognition and behavior across several domains, including general intelligence, memory, language, attention, learning, visuospatial abilities, executive functioning, fine and gross motor skills, and social and adaptive functioning.

Behavioral dysregulations by chronic alcohol abuse. Motivational enhancement therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy outcomes.

Patients with alcohol use disorder (AUD) do not manifest homogeneous clinical symptoms. Various studies described both cognitive impairments and psychiatric disorders among people with AUD. This disorder is one of the most frequent mental disorders in developed countries, due to excessive alcohol consumption.

Treatment-resistant schizophrenia: Addressing white matter integrity, intracortical glutamate levels, clinical and cognitive profiles between early- and adult-onset patients.

Background: Treatment-resistance in schizophrenia is 30-40%. Its neurobiology remains unclear; to explore it, we conducted a combined spectrometry/tractography/cognitive battery and psychopathological rating study on patients with treatment-resistant schizophrenia (TRS), dividing the sample into early-onset (N = 21) and adult-onset TRS (N = 20). Previous studies did not differentiate between early- (onset 13-18 years) and adult-onset (>18 years at formal diagnosis of schizophrenia) TRS.

Markers of Neuroinflammation in the Serum of Prepubertal Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders.

Background: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) are the manifestation of the damage caused by alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS), the extreme FASD manifestation, show both facial dysmorphology and mental retardation. Alcohol consumed during gestational age prejudices brain development by reducing, among others, the synthesis and release of neurotrophic factors and neuroinflammatory markers.