Visual attention in infant monkeys: effects of dietary fatty acids and age.
Effects of dietary essential fatty acids on visual attention were explored longitudinally in infant rhesus monkeys with a visual paired-comparison paradigm. Sets of primate faces and of patterns were presented at Weeks 2, 5, 9, and 13 to 9 infants deficient in omega-3 fatty acids and 8 fed a standard nursery diet. Familiarization to 1 member of each pair preceded simultaneous presentation of both stimuli. Infants fed the deficient diet showed longer individual looks in both immediate and 24-hr tests. Duration of looks decreased with age to familiar but not to novel stimuli. The proportion of time looking at the novel stimulus (% novel) increased with age but was not affected by diet. Look duration and % novel were differentially affected and may reflect different underlying processes.
Reisbick
S
S
Department of Medicine, Oregon Health Sciences University, USA.
Neuringer
M
M
Gohl
E
E
Wald
R
R
Anderson
G J
GJ
D000375:Aging / Q000187:drug effects*; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects*; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3 / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000187:drug effects; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000187:drug effects*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects
D004041:Dietary Fats; D015525:Fatty Acids, Omega-3