When reading the journal article on neuropsychological comparison of alcohol exposed children with or without physical features of fetal alcohol syndrome, written by Sarah Mattson and Edward Riley along with other authors, I found that fetal alcohol syndrome is associated with behavioral and cognitive deficits. However the majority of children born to alcohol abusing women do not meet the formal criteria for FAS and it is not known if the cognitive abilities of these children differ from those of children with FAS. When using a set of neuropsychological tests, three groups were compared, children with FAS, children without FAS who were born to alcohol abusing women called the PEA group, and normal controls.
             The results indicated that relative to controls that both FAS and the PEA groups had a broad spectrum of effects such as being impaired on tests of language, verbal learning and memory, academic skills, fine motor speed and visual motor integration. These data suggests that heavy prenatal alcohol consumption is related to a consistent pattern of neuropsychological deficits and the degree of these deficits may be independent of the presence of physical features associated with FAS. Prenatal exposure to alcohol has effects on the developing fetus that ranges from perinatal death to subtle behavioral problems as well. The characteristics of FAS include short palpebral fissures, long smooth philtrum, broad nasal bridge, and epicanthal folds. The central nervous dysfunction can include severe mental retardation, hyperactivity, or more subtle behavioral problems.
             According to the Human Growth and Development book, written by D. Papalia, S. Olds, and R. Feldman, for every child with FAS, as many as ten others may be born with Fetal alcohol effects, which is a less severe condition, that can include mental retardation, retardation of intrauterine growth, and minor congential abnormalities. Some FAS problems
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