Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: Experimental Treatments and Strategies for Intervention

Despite the known damaging effects of prenatal alcohol exposure, women continue to drink during pregnancy, creating a need for effective interventions and treatments for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). Experimental models can be useful in identifying potential treatments, and this article describes the spectrum of experimental therapeutics that currently are being investigated, including pharmacological, nutritional, and environmental/behavioral interventions. Some treatments target the underlying mechanisms that contribute to alcohol-induced damage, protecting against alcohol's teratogenic effects, whereas other treatments may enhance central nervous system plasticity either during alcohol exposure or long after alcohol exposure has ceased. The insights gained to date from experimental models offer several candidates for attenuating the deficits associated with FASD.