Maternal intelligence

Bellinger DC, Needleman HL. 1983. Lead and the relationship between maternal and child intelligence. JPediatr 102 523-527. 

Intelligence quotient (IQ) loss effect on lifetime earnings Fetal effects from maternal exposure... 

Brooks-Gunn, J., Klebanov, P. K. (1996). Ethnic differences in children s intelligence test scores Role of economic deprivation, home environment, and maternal characteristics. Child Development, 67, 396-408. 

What are these subclinical effects Very simply, they are effects that occur at blood lead levels below those that produce clinically measurable effects - they occur in the absence of any sign of overt lead poisoning. These effects can be detected only by studying various forms of behavior, such as degree of hyperactivity and classroom attention span, and performance on various tests of intelligence and mental development. Deficits in neurobehavioral development, as measured by two widely used tests - the Bayley and McCarthy Scales - have been reported in children exposed prenatally (via maternal blood) to blood... 

Rose RJ, Boughman JA, Corey LA, Nance WE, Christian JC, Kang KW 1980 Data from kinships of monozygotic twins indicate maternal effects on intelligence. Nature 283 375-377 Skodak M, Skeels HM 1949 A final follow-up study of one hundred adopted children. J Genet Psychol 75 85—12... 

The 66-month study of 711 children in the Seychelles islands assessed the effects of prenatal MeHg in tests of global intelligence and developmental milestones. No adverse effects were seen that could be attributed to MeHg. Maternal hair samples collected at birth contained Hg concentrations that ranged from 0.5 to 27 ppm (mean, 6.8 ppm). Meanwhile,... 

In the analyses of the six IBR items, maternal-hair Hg concentration was significantly associated only with examiner ratings of activity level during the test session and only in males. The score decreased 1 point (on a 9-point scale) for each 10 ppm. Additional analysis of the data of the main SCDS study cohort failed to identify significant effect modification by factors such as caregiver intelligence, H.O.M.E. score, family income, and gender (Davidson et al. 1999). 

During the course of a Maternal PKU Study, three untreated women with classic PKU were found, but with normal or nearly normal intelligence. Their brain Phe levels were below the detection limit of proton spectroscopy (< 0.15 nunol L" )-Similar exceptional patients have additionally been reported. Therefore, a series of dynamic magnetic resonance spectroscopy experiments was initialized, to examine the Phe transport kinetics at the blood-brain barrier (Rosenblat et al., 1992). 

---