Nutrition and Mental Functions

Description

The description of sequelae of nutritional deficien­ cies was equally oversimplified. Obviously, a disease like rickets, which affected hard tissues--the skeleton-­ had irreversible consequences. Destruction or alteration of tissues, such as in cancrum oris or severe xerophthal­ mia, was equally permanent and easily observed. Other models were beriberi or scurvy, where, by contrast, the vitamin treatment seemed to restore the individual to the completely normal status quo ante. Most nutritionists were therefore little prepared intellectually for the series of suggestive findings con­ cerning nutrition and mental development which has been the highlight of nutritional research in the past decade: the discovery that there are irreversible gaps in mental development not correlated with obvious permanent somatic lesions which follow acute malnutrition during the develop­ ment of the young infant. Furthermore, not only are ex­ isting somatic instruments--physical examination, the scale, and the measuring tape--inadequate to detect such intellectual and behavioral deficits, but some of the current psychological instruments, bound to traditions of Western culture, are often poorly adapted to measure fine differences in psychological development among poor populations. These initial discoveries have stimulated important methodological advances, ranging from better staining techniques for the study of fibers connecting brain neurons to better tests for the study of cognitive development. Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Welcoming Address....Pages 1-2 Introductory Remarks....Pages 3-4 Introductory Remarks....Pages 5-6 Front Matter....Pages 7-7 Introduction....Pages 9-11 Long Continued Marginal Protein-Energy Deficiency....Pages 13-31 Behavioral Deficiencies in Protein-Deprived Monkeys....Pages 33-64 Nutrition and Brain Development....Pages 65-73 Malnutrition and Animal Models of Cognitive Development....Pages 75-89 Interactive Effects of Variable Population Density and Dietary Protein Sufficiency upon Selected Morphological, Neurochemical, and Behavioral Attributes in the Rat....Pages 91-97 Protein Malnutrition and Complex Learning in the Chicken....Pages 99-112 Learning in Chronically Protein-Deprived Rats....Pages 113-120 Concluding Remarks....Pages 121-124 Front Matter....Pages 125-125 Social Antecedents and Correlates of Preschool Malnutrition in Cambridge, Massachusetts....Pages 127-142 Longitudinal Study of Language Development in Severely Malnourished Children....Pages 143-191 Nutrition, Environment, and Child Behavior....Pages 193-197 Front Matter....Pages 199-199 Introduction....Pages 201-203 Nutrition and Psychiatric Illness....Pages 205-212 Premorbid Adjustment and Response to Nicotinic Acid....Pages 213-224 Front Matter....Pages 225-225 Introduction....Pages 227-230 Some Comments on the Effects of Malnutrition on Brain Function....Pages 231-233 Front Matter....Pages 225-225 Critique of Research Dealing with the Consequences of Early Malnutrition....Pages 235-240 Summary....Pages 241-242 Front Matter....Pages 243-243 Reply to “Nutrition and Psychiatric Illness” by Seymour Kety....Pages 245-250 Response to Dr. Osmond’s Comments....Pages 251-252 Remarks on the Use of Megavitamins in the Treatment of Schizophrenia....Pages 253-258 Contrast between Vitamin-Responsive Inherited Metabolic Diseases and Vitamin Use in Schizophrenia....Pages 259-262 The Transmethylation Hypothesis Restated....Pages 263-266 Summary....Pages 267-270 Comment....Pages 271-271 Front Matter....Pages 273-273 Closing Remarks....Pages 275-276 Back Matter....Pages 277-281