Selective impairment of cognitive performance in the young monkey following recovery from iron deficiency.
OBJECTIVE
While poor nutrition during development is an obvious concern, the magnitude and duration of the neural and cognitive deficits that occur after moderate iron deficiency in infancy have remained controversial. A nonhuman primate model of infancy anemia was refined to investigate the effects on cognitive performance.


METHODS
Young rhesus monkeys that experienced a delimited period of iron deficiency were tested on a series of cognitive tasks following normalization of their hematological status. Beginning at 8 to 9 months of age, 2 months after weaning from their mothers and consumption of solid food, the previously iron-deficient (ID) monkeys (n = 17) were compared to age- and gender-matched, iron-sufficient (IS) (n = 27) monkeys on a series of three tests of cognitive performance. Using the Wisconsin General Testing Apparatus, a Black/White Discrimination task was followed by acquisition of Black/White Reversal (BWR).


RESULTS
ID monkeys were significantly slower at mastering the BWR task (p < .04), which required reversing and inhibiting the previously learned response. In addition, ID infants were significantly less object oriented (p < .017) and more distractible (p < .018). However, on two subsequent tests, the Concurrent Object Discrimination and Delayed Non-Match-to-Sample, there were no differences in acquisition, performance, or behavioral reactivity.


CONCLUSIONS
The initial cognitive and behavioral deficits are similar to those seen in follow-up evaluations of anemic children, but the limited extent of the impairment after this moderate iron deficiency that involved a select nutrient deficiency is encouraging for the benefits attainable through early identification and iron supplementation.
Lubach
Gabriele R
GR
Harlow Center for Biological Psychology, Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53715, USA. grlubach@wisc.edu
Coe
Christopher L
CL
D000367:Age Factors; D018798:Anemia, Iron-Deficiency / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D003289:Convalescence; D005260:Female; D005296:Ferrous Compounds / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008297:Male; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012201:Reward; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
D005296:Ferrous Compounds