Impact of chronic undernutrition on higher mental functions in Indian boys aged 10-12 years.

Undernourished rural children 10-12 years of age demonstrated the following, when compared to normal nourished children: (i) a relative deficit of memory quotients assessed by the Wechsler memory scale; (ii) lower scores for abilities related to personal and current information, orientation, mental control, logical memory, digit span, visual reproduction and associative learning; (iii) impaired set formation and flexibility in attention as assessed by the card sorting test; and (iv) impairment in conditional learning on maze and conditional associative learning tests. The performance on the finger dexterity test for fine motor coordination was not affected in undernourished children.