title: Comparable measures of cognitive function in human infants and laboratory animals to identify environmental health risks to children.
abstract: The importance of including neurodevelopmental end points in environmental studies is clear. A validated measure of cognitive function in human infants that also has a homologous or parallel test in laboratory animal studies will provide a valuable approach for large-scale studies. Such a comparable test will allow researchers to observe the effect of environmental neurotoxicants in animals and relate those findings to humans. In this article, we present the results of a review of post-1990, peer-reviewed literature and current research examining measures of cognitive function that can be applied to both human infants (0-12 months old) and laboratory animals. We begin with a discussion of the definition of cognitive function and important considerations in cross-species research. We then describe identified comparable measures, providing a description of the test in human infants and animal subjects. Available information on test reliability, validity, and population norms, as well as test limitations and constraints, is also presented.
authors.affiliation: Westat, Rockville, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sharbaugh
authors.forename: Susan Marie
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Viet
authors.forename: Alexa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fraser
authors.forename: Suzanne B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: McMaster
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000830:Animals, Laboratory; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002657:Child Development; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D004785:Environmental Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment
chemical_list: D004785:Environmental Pollutants