Dissecting Role of Sleep in Abnormal Neurocognitive Development in an Animal Model of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure

Dissecting Role of Sleep in Abnormal Neurocognitive Development in an Animal Model of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure

It has been well established that human conditions with insufficient or restricted sleep have detrimental consequences, including cognitive, affective, cardiovascular and endocrine, and contribute to poor quality of life. Development of insomnia depends on genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors, and may have origins in early ontogenesis. Existing data suggest that poor sleep and increased behavioral arousal can result from prenatal adversities such as exposure to psychoactive substances or malnutrition. One of the major risk factors during the prenatal period is maternal alcohol consumption. It occurs in over 10% of pregnancies, leading to adverse consequences such as the Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) affecting 2-5% of births in the United States and Western European countries.