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Learning deficits in rats with malnourished grandmothers
Author(s) -
Bresler David E.,
Ellison Gaylord,
Zamenhof Stephen
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
developmental psychobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.055
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1098-2302
pISSN - 0012-1630
DOI - 10.1002/dev.420080405
Subject(s) - offspring , malnutrition , protein malnutrition , pregnancy , physiology , low protein diet , biology , mating , medicine , endocrinology , zoology , genetics
Female rats (F 0 ) were maintained on a protein‐restricted or a normal diet 1 month prior to mating and throughout pregnancy. Their female offspring (F 1 ) were maintained on a normal protein diet and mated with normal males. In previously reported studies, the 2nd generation offspring (F 2 ) of the malnourished rats have been found at birth to have significantly lower cerebral DNA (a measure of cell number), cerebral weight, and cerebral protein than normal controls. We now report that these F 2 animals show marked learning deficits at maturity on 2 different successive reversal tasks, even though they themselves have never directly experienced malnutrition. Thus, certain behavioral as well as biochemical effects of malnutrition appear in the next generation of animals.