Some effects of accelerating growth III. Behaviour and nervous activity

Abstract

The behaviour and nervous activity of rats which had been made to grow fast by a super-abundance of food in the first week or two of life were compared with the same characteristics in litter-mates which had been suckled in large litters, and gained weight much more slowly. The rapidly growing animals were more active and inquisitive at each chronological age than their slow-growing litter-mates, and they appeared to profit more by previous experience, which indicates that they learned more quickly. It is suggested that nutritional variables may underlie some of the correlations which have been found by others to exist between physical and mental development at similar chronological ages in children. It is also possible that children today, who are admittedly growing faster than they did 50 years ago, should be expected to display a correspondingly greater mental activity and ability to learn.