Effects of Pre-and Neonatal Undernutrition on Long-Term Hearing Cognition of the Rat

Experimental evidence in the rat suggests that perinatal undernutrition, associated with sensory and hormonal deficiencies, interferes with brain network integrative actions. We review peripheral and central morpho-functional alterations related to early food restriction along with the auditory relays, and their connections with the limbic system, which are essential for motivation-emotional arousal. The findings indicated that different morpho-functional alterations in the auditory system permanently affect the brainstem, the reticular thalamic nucleus, and the prefrontal and auditory cortices. Moreover, data showed the noxious role of early food restriction and the external ear occlusion on the distal portions of dendritic arbor measurements, in the cochlea, nucleus ambiguous and motor cortical pyramids. These anatomical alterations also correlated with deficiencies in the dynamic motor and auditory cognitive brain plasticity. Food restriction-related deficiencies in the motor-emotional-behavioral arousal systems may be useful to understand long-term cognitive disorders in humans.

啮齿动物胎仔数与生活史变量的关系

胎仔数是影响哺乳动物繁殖率的基本参数 ,与动物的生活史变量密切相关。胎仔数及其相关的生活史变量 ,包括后代的质量、幼体的生存、母体的体重及母体的生存等 ,共同影响繁殖适合度。简述了胎仔数与生活史变量关系的研究方法及研究对象的选择 ,着重介绍了胎仔数与幼体和母体生活史变量的关系 :胎仔数与后代的质量呈负相关 ,后代的质量又决定了幼体的生存 ;胎仔数与母体体重相关不显著 ,而且可能对母体的生存产生负面影响。有关胎仔数与其生活史变量的关系还有待于进一步的探索 。