Sensory Processing Disorder in a Primate Model: Evidence From a Longitudinal Study of Prenatal Alcohol and Prenatal Stress Effects

• Published in: Child development 2008-01, Vol.79 (1), p.100-113
• Main Authors: Schneider, Mary L., Moore, Colleen F., Gajewski, Lisa L., Larson, Julie A., Roberts, Andrew D., Converse, Alexander K., DeJesus, Onofre T.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alcohol; Alcohol related disorders; Alcohol use; Alcoholic beverages; Alcohols; Animals; Antenatal; Arousal - physiology; Avoidance Learning - physiology; Behavioral psychophysiology; Biochemistry; Biological and medical sciences; Child development; Control Groups; Corpus Striatum - physiopathology; Developmental Disabilities; Developmental psychology; Diagnostic Tests; Disease Models, Animal; Effects; Empirical Articles; Experimentation; Feathers; Female; Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders - physiopathology; Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders - psychology; Fetal Alcohol Syndrome; Fetal exposure; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Habituation; Habituation, Psychophysiologic - physiology; Macaca mulatta; Male; Medical imaging; Mental health; Mental stimulation; Mental stress; Monkeys; Neurotransmission and behavior; Perceptual Disorders - physiopathology; Perceptual Disorders - psychology; Positron-Emission Tomography; Pregnancy; Prenatal development; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Prenatal Influences; Primates; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Receptors; Receptors, Dopamine D2 - physiology; Reproductive health; Sensory Integration; Sensory processes; Sensory Thresholds - physiology; Stimulation; Stimuli; Stress; Stress, Psychological - complications; Stress, Psychological - physiopathology; Tactual Perception; Touch - physiology; Withdrawal (Psychology)
• ISSN: 0009-3920; 1467-8624
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2007.01113.x

Disrupted sensory processing, characterized by over- or underresponsiveness to environmental stimuli, has been reported in children with a variety of developmental disabilities. This study examined the effects of prenatal stress and moderate-level prenatal alcohol exposure on tactile sensitivity and its relationship to striatal dopamine system function in thirty-eight 5- to 7-year-old rhesus monkeys. The monkeys were from four experimental conditions: (a) prenatal alcohol exposed, (b) prenatal stress, (c) prenatal alcohol exposed + prenatal stress, and (d) sucrose controls. Increased D2 receptor binding in the striatum, evaluated using positron emission tomography neuroimaging, was related to increased withdrawal (aversion) responses to repetitive tactile stimuli and reduced habituation across trials. Moreover, prenatal stress significantly increased overall withdrawal responses to repetitive tactile stimulation compared to no prenatal stress.