Postnatal behaviors

C.V. Vorhees, Effects of prenatal naloxone exposure on postnatal behavioral development of rats, Neurobehav. Toxicol. Teratol., 3(3) (1981) 295-301. 

Guittin, P., Trouiller, G., Derrien, J. (1987). Postnatal behavioral toxicity in rats following prenatal exposure to an organophosphate. Teratology 36 25A. 

Hughes JA, Annau Z. 1976. Postnatal behavioral effects in mice after prenatal exposure to methylmercury. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 4 385-391. 

Meanwhile, the high prevalence of alcohol use by pregnant women and women of child-bearing age, coupled with the high prevalence of FASD, makes at least one idea seem bizarre the idea that the fetal environment contributes little or nothing to postnatal behavior and IQ. 

This chapter is about the effects of the prenatal environment on childhood and adult intelligence quotient (IQ), but it needs to be more than that, since once the prenatal environment is admitted as an important determinant of postnatal behavior and cognitive performance, some old hereditarian ideas must be abandoned. Abandonment of these old ideas will be a critical step forward in the twenty-first century, and I want to outline here the reasons for the shift among researchers. The problem for the general reader is that although the new view of IQ involves concepts in statistics and psychometrics, I have committed myself to tell the story without graphs or equations. I do hope this works for the general reader, but if in a few places the discussion seems too technical, I advise the reader... 

Stress hormones can also be powerful modifiers of fetal development, which is how the psychological state of a pregnant mother can affect the physiological state of her fetus. Quantitative measurement of postnatal behavioral and IQ consequences are problematic, but there s enough evidence that makes biological sense to underscore the importance of maternal stress as a mediating variable between the maternal psychological and social environment and the development of the fetal body and brain. 

Bomhausen M, Hagen U. 1984. Operant behavior performance changes in rats after prenatal and postnatal exposure to heavy metals. Ires Med Sci 12 805-806. 

Burger J. 1990. Behavioral effects of early postnatal lead exposure in herring guU (Lams argentatus) chicks. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 35 7-14. 

Schirring, E., and Hecht, A. Behavioral effects of low, acute doses of (/-amphetamine on the dyadic interaction between mother and infant vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops) during the first six postnatal months. Psychopharmacology 64 219-224. 1979. 

Impairment has also been reported at low blood lead levels in other types of behavior/leaming studies in rats. In a test of spatial discrimination, rats were exposed to lead acetate at 745 mg lead/kg/day in the diet indirectly via administration to their dams through gestation and lactation and then directly until testing (at 100 and 200 days of age) (Winneke et al. 1977). The lead-exposed rats were slower to leam the discrimination than were controls. Their PbB levels at postnatal day 16 averaged 26.6 pg/dL and the levels at 190 days averaged 28.5 pg/dL. 

Bellinger DC Leviton A, Allred E, et al. 1994. Pre- and postnatal lead exposure and behavior problems in school-aged children. Environ Res 66 12-30. 

Draski LJ, Burright RG, Donovick PJ. 1989. The influence of prenatal and/or postnatal exposure to lead on behavior of preweanling mice. Physiol Behav 45 711-715. 

Ferguson S A. Bowman RE. 1990. Effects of postnatal lead exposure on open field behavior in monkeys. Neurotoxicol Teratol 12 91-97. 

Grant LD, Kimmel CA, West GL, et al. 1980. Chronic low-level lead toxicity in the rat II. Effects on postnatal physical and behavioral development. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol 56 42-58. 

Hopper DL, Keman WJ, Lloyd WE. 1986. The behavioral effects of prenatal and early postnatal lead exposure in the primate Macaca fascicularis. Toxicol Ind Health 21 1-16. 

Mele PC, Bushnell PJ, Bowman RE. 1984. Prolonged behavioral effects of early postnatal lead exposure in rhesus monkeys Fixed-interval responding and interactions with scopolamine and pentobarbital. Neurobehav Toxicol Teratol 6 129-135. 

Caldji, C., Liu, D., Sharma, S. et al. Development of individual differences in behavioral and endocrine responses to stress role of the postnatal environment. In Coping with the Environment Neural and Endocrine Mechanisms. Ed. McEwen, B. S. New York Oxford University Press, 2000, Vol. IV, pp271—292. 

Burger, J. and M. Gochfeld. 1985. Early postnatal lead exposure behavioral effects in common tern chicks (Sterna hirundo). Jour Toxicol. Environ. Health 16 869-886. 

Geist, C.R., S.W. Balko, M.E. Morgan, and R. Angiak. 1985. Behavioral effects following rehabilitation from postnatal exposure to lead acetate. Percep. Motor Skills 60 527-536. 

Rat 2000 pg/kg in diet (as Pacific blue marlin) gestation through postnatal day 16 Adverse behavioral changes in offspring 6... 

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