New research in primates suggests that infants and children who carry a certain gene variant may be more vulnerable to the ill effects of fetal alcohol exposure.Reported online today (Sept. 21) in Biological Psychiatry, the findings represent the first evidence of a genetic risk for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder — a condition that is characterized by profound mental retardation in its most severe form, but which is also associated with deficits in learning, attention, memory and impulse control.
