Levin E D, Bowman R E
Neurobehav Toxicol Teratol. 1986 May-Jun;8(3):219-24.
Exposure of rhesus monkeys to lead during the first year after birth resulted in cognitive deficits when the monkeys were tested as adults (5-6 years of age). A pronounced lead-related deficit was detected in the test of Delayed Spatial Alternation (DSA), and a much less robust effect was detected in the Hamilton Search Task (HST). Both tests provided examples of "windows of sensitivity" to the effect of lead, where the behavioral criterion was challenging enough to elicit a deficit in lead-treated monkeys while still being within the capabilities of the controls. The lead-induced deficit in DSA was most pronounced after short intertrial delays, suggesting that the effect was probably not due to a mnemonic dysfunction, but rather may have been due to deficits in strategy or attention. The lose-shift type of error accounted for most of the lead-related DSA deficit, indicating that the lead-treated monkeys perseverated on an alternation strategy even when it was not rewarded. These results indicate that exposure to lead during the first year after birth can result in very long-term and possibly permanent cognitive deficits.
恒河猴在出生后的第一年接触铅，当这些猴子成年（5 - 6岁）接受测试时出现了认知缺陷。在延迟空间交替（DSA）测试中检测到明显的与铅相关的缺陷，而在汉密尔顿搜索任务（HST）中检测到的影响则要弱得多。这两项测试都提供了对铅影响的“敏感窗口”示例，其中行为标准具有足够的挑战性，足以在铅处理的猴子中引发缺陷，同时仍在对照组的能力范围内。DSA中铅诱导的缺陷在短试验间隔后最为明显，这表明这种影响可能不是由于记忆功能障碍，而是可能由于策略或注意力方面的缺陷。失误转换类型的错误占了与铅相关的DSA缺陷的大部分，这表明铅处理的猴子即使在交替策略没有得到奖励时仍坚持该策略。这些结果表明，出生后第一年接触铅会导致非常长期甚至可能是永久性的认知缺陷。
