ABSTRACT
Ten years ago, West and colleagues (West, Alkana, & DeBold, 1986) outlined several of
the key questions facing fetal alcohol research in the summary chapter of an influential
book on alcohol and brain development (West, 1986). They pointed out that, although
animal studies provided convincing evidence that alcohol is a teratogen, there was no
identified means (sans abstinence) of prevention, treatment, or intervention for alcohol-
induced neurobehavioral pathology, nor any understanding of the mechanisms of alcohol-
induced central nervous system (CNS) pathology. Four major gaps were identified: the
lack of knowledge about how much alcohol is harmful to the developing brain, the lack
of understanding about “critical” periods of susceptibility to alcohol insult, the lack of
understanding of the sources of variation in outcomes following fetal alcohol exposure,
and the lack of knowledge about the mechanisms of alcohol-induced alterations or
damage in the developing brain.
