The influence of nutrition on neural and behavioral development: III. Development of some motor, particularly locomotor patterns during infancy

Abstract

The locomotor development of infant rats nursed by mothers that had free access to food during lactation or were fed during that period 40% or 20% of the ad lib diet were compared. The "spontaneous" emergence or disappearance of several locomotor patterns were sampled daily in an open field situation, and the development of others was studied by inducing them in test situations. The spontaneous motor patterns included genera1 locomotor activity, pivoting, head lifting, and standing on the hindlegs. The induced activities were hanging and moving on a suspended horizontal string, clinging to and descending on vertical ropes, climbing up on a rod, and homing in various test situations. The motor performance of the severely undernourished animals (offspring of mothers on a 20% diet) was inferior to normals in all the observations. This was manifested most commonly in reduced frequency or speed in the performance of certain acts, and in some cases in the prolonged persistence of infantile motor patterns or a delay in the appearance of more advanced patterns. nutrition malnutrition locomotion development of motor activity laboratory rat

Maternal MDMA administration in mice leads to neonatal growth delay

“…Moreover, some of the MDMA-administered dams appeared to have little interest in rearing their pups, which may also be related to the survival rate of newborns. The righting reflex test was used to evaluate muscle strength and subcortical maturation, the cliff avoidance test was used to assess the integration of exteroceptive input and locomotor output, and the wire hanging maneuver test was used to evaluate neuromuscular and locomotor development (Altman et al, 1971;Altman and Sudarshan, 1975;Shen et al, 1991;Hermans et al, 1992). MDMA pups showed significantly poorer performances in these tests than the control pups (Figs.…”

“…Righting reflex test: This test is believed to be a reflection of muscle strength and subcortical maturation (Altman et al, 1971;Hermans et al, 1992). Pups were placed on their backs, and the time to turn over on all four paws and touch the platform was measured.…”

Low-level x-irradiation of the brain during development: morphological, physiological, and behavioral consequences. Comprehensive progress report, June 15, 1962--August 31, 1974

“…(b) Effects of Undernutrition (i) The effects of undernutrition during gestation and lactation (separately or in combination) were examined in a series of past studies (56,58,66) in which the treatments involved either the allocation of an excessive number of rat pups to a dam or a reduction of her di6t by specified amounts. The effects of such treatments on the development of the cerebellar cortex (66) and on the development of motor performance (58') were examined.…”

Neuromotor Development in Relation to Birth Weight in Rabbits

“…For rats it has been shown that early postnatal irradiation of the cerebellum (8 -1 0 ), infantile undernutrition (11,12) and environmental deprivation (13) may affect the normal devel opment of neuromotor skills. Effects of brief postnatal fasting upon brain development and catch-up growth in rabbits were also reported (14).…”