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Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to determine the behavioral
effects of phosphocholine deficiency in rats reared on a human
infant formula. The subjects were 16 male albino rats. The subjects
were randomly assigned to two experimental groups, both of which
were artificially reared on a human infant formula. The
artificially reared-deficient (AR- D) group was reared on the
formula alone, while the artificially reared- supplemented (AR-S)
group was reared on the formula supplemented with phosphocholine.
Visuospatial memory was measured on using mixed-pattern paradigm
radial arm maze task. Following a training period the effects of
proactive interference were tested using a massed- trials paradigm.
Significant differences were found in the number of working memory
errors on novel task days 1 and 10 of the training session, with
the AR-S group making fewer errors. The AR-D group had a higher
turning bias than the AR-S group during training. No significant
differences were observed during proactive interference.
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