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Early brain insult and cognition: A comparison of malnutrition and hypothyroidism
Author(s) -
Strupp Barbara J.,
Levitsky David A.
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.420160609
Subject(s) - observational study , malnutrition , insult , cognitive impairment , observational learning , cognition , psychology , developmental psychology , physiology , medicine , neuroscience , philosophy , linguistics , mathematics education , experiential learning
The effects of two biological insults, hypothyroidism and malnutrition, incurred during pre‐ and postnatal development were compared using a newly developed test of observational learning in rats. Whereas, early hypothyroidism produced a significant impairment in observational learning in recovered rats, no indication of any impairment was observed in rats recovered from early malnutrition. These results are important in that they demonstrate that tests of advantageous learning such as observational learning are sensitive to the kinds of early biological insult that lead to permanent cognitive impairment in humans. Moreover, these data further support the concept that the cognitive impairment observed during periods of malnutrition in humans and animals is not permanent.