The negative effects of fetal alcohol exposure on child development are well documented. This study investigated the electrophysiological processing of cortical level acoustic signals in a group of 21 children prenatally exposed to alcohol. Participants aged 13–14 years at the time of the study were recruited from a longitudinal cohort sample. The study employed an observational, cross-sectional blind design and participants were divided into two groups: with and without fetal exposure to alcohol. Neurophysiological measures recorded N1, P2, N2, P3, P3a, and P3b components using the Oddball paradigm. Our results showed that the mothers’ sociodemographic conditions at the time of birth, as well as the children’s birth weights were homogeneous between the groups, though the Apgar score was lower in the exposed group (EG). The neurophysiological components that showed different results in the groups were P2 and P3a. P2 amplitude was higher in the midline central electrode (Cz) compared to the midline parietal electrode (Pz), demonstrating a group interaction for exposed children. For P3a there was an interaction of group and electrode position, and the EG showed higher amplitudes in Cz compared to the unEG. However, the Apgar score did not influence these results. In conclusion, children who had fetal exposure to alcohol presented electrophysiological recordings distinct from the control group. These differences occurred both in the P2 component – which reflects a bottom-up mechanism of auditory processing – as well as the P3a component, which may reflect the participation of supra-modal hearing mechanisms.

胎儿酒精暴露对儿童发育的负面影响已得到充分证明。这项研究调查了21名产前暴露于酒精的儿童的皮质水平声信号的电生理处理。研究时年龄为13-14岁的参与者是从纵向队列样本中招募的。该研究采用观察性，横断面盲设计，参与者分为两组：有或没有胎儿接触酒精。神经生理学指标使用Oddball范式记录了N1，P2，N2，P3，P3a和P3b的成分。我们的结果表明，尽管暴露组（EG）的Apgar得分较低，但是两组之间母亲的社会人口统计学状况以及孩子的出生体重是相同的。在各组中显示不同结果的神经生理成分是P2和P3a。与中线顶电极（Pz）相比，中线中心电极（Cz）的P2幅度更高，表明暴露儿童的群体互动。对于P3a，基团和电极位置之间存在相互作用，并且与unEG相比，EG在Cz中显示出更高的振幅。但是，Apgar分数不会影响这些结果。总之，胎儿暴露于酒精的儿童呈现出与对照组不同的电生理记录。这些差异既发生在P2组件（这反映了听觉处理的自下而上的机制）中，也发生在P3a组件中，这可能反映了超模态听力机制的参与。