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Effects of nutrition and environment on brain biochemistry and behavior
Author(s) -
Crnic Linda S.
Publication year - 1983
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.420160206
Subject(s) - environmental enrichment , malnutrition , brain development , psychology , feeding behavior , food consumption , factorial experiment , open field , factorial analysis , developmental psychology , food intake , biology , neuroscience , zoology , endocrinology , medicine , mathematics , statistics , agricultural economics , economics
Abstract A factorial design was used to explore the influence of malnutrition and environmental enrichment on brain development and adult behavior. Malnutrition in suckling rats was produced by restricting the intake of their dams to 40% of normal food consumption. Environment was enriched using combined preweaning handling and a postweaning complex environment treatment. Malnutrition produced lasting effects upon brain biochemical composition and behavior. The environmental manipulation had no ameliorative effect on the brain parameters measured but it had pronounced effects on behavior, decreasing latency to move in the open field and increasing some measures of activity while it enhanced passive‐avoidance performance. There was little evidence for any interaction between the nutritional and environmental variables, but all trends were in the direction of the environmental treatment having more effect on the well‐nourished rats.