EFFECTS OF PRENATAL ALCOHOL EXPOSURE ON MULTISENSORY PROCESSING 

Study Overview: This project will use a mouse model of maternal voluntary alcohol consumption throughout gestation to examine the auditory structures responsible for unisensory (auditory, somatosensory) and multisensory (auditory-somatosensory) processing impairments in mice prenatally exposed to alcohol. The goal of the proposal is to identify auditory structures that contribute to the auditory-somatosensory processing impairments in Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). The long-term goal of my research is to model the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure in mice to provide insights into neural mechanisms that mediate auditory processing deficits and identify translation-relevant neural correlates.

Biography: My current research focuses on examining alcohol-induced alterations in synaptic structure and function, auditory processing, and behavior in prenatal exposure models of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). Our research utilizes several approaches including electrophysiology, imaging methods (slice imaging and in vivo imaging), auditory measurements, and behavioral methods to study impairments in mouse models of FASD. The goal of my current research is to identify the auditory structures responsible for auditory processing impairments in mice prenatally exposed to alcohol and characterize the cellular correlates that contribute to the changes in auditory system neuronal plasticity.