ISDN2014_0304: Maternal nutrient restriction (MNR) in pregnant guinea pigs and the impact on fetal growth and brain development

damage due to HI manifests as decreased hippocampal and cortical volume, and/or enlargement of the ventricles. Additionally, HI is associated with later cognitive and behavioral deficits such as language and memory impairments, as well as attentional deficits (e.g. ADHD), and these are often more severe in males. The current study utilized an animal model of HI injury, where male and female rats received induced brain damage on postnatal day 7. We sought to assess sex differences on a rapid auditory processing task, spatial and non-spatial memory tasks, and a 5choice serial reaction time task of visual attention in HI males and females as compared to shams. Based on prior evidence in our lab showing more robust behavioral deficits in males, it was hypothesized that on all behavioral tasks, male HI rodents would yield significant behavioral deficits while female HI rodents would yield subtle or no behavioral deficits. Results revealed significant deficits in RAP and spatial and nonspatial learning in HI males, thereby replicating previous findings. HI males were also impaired in visual attention, providing a novel finding. HI females displayed a subtle impairment on RAP and no significant deficits on spatial and non-spatial learning, but did display significant deficits in visual attention similar to HI males. Anatomical results also revealed that both HI males and females displayed significant and comparable right hemisphere damage in the cortex, hippocampus and ventricles. The similar pattern of anatomical injury in both sexes, combined with differences in behavior, suggest that there may be different mechanisms of reorganization following injury, leading to a female “advantage” in outcomes for some but not all behavioral domains.