AJCN North Carolina Research Campus
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Purchase Article
Right arrow View Shopping Cart
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by DeLong, G. R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by DeLong, G. R.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by DeLong, G. R.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 57, 286S-290S, Copyright © 1993 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc

REVIEW ARTICLES

Effects of nutrition on brain development in humans

GR DeLong
Division of Pediatric Neurology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710.

Brain development in humans is remarkably resistant to permanent damage from protein-energy malnutrition. However, specific nutrients have crucial roles. Iodine deficiency is the most important and widespread nutrient deficiency; it causes endemic cretinism, associated with deaf- mutism and cerebral palsy. Iodine deficiency during pregnancy causes both maternal and fetal hypothyroxinemia, resulting in irreversible impairment of brain development at a critical stage. Neuropathological data place this after 14 wk, perhaps continuing through the third trimester. Gross brain structure, including the gyral pattern of the cerebral cortex, develops normally; the insult affects neuron and dendrite growth. Recent magnetic-resonance-imaging (MRI) images of neurological cretin brains show remarkably normal appearance except for gliotic lesions of the globus pallidus, correlating with the proximal motor rigidity seen clinically. Myxedematous cretinism is paradoxical in showing more severe hypothyroidism and growth failure, yet better intellectual, motor, and hearing function; these observations implicate a second independent factor in its pathogenesis.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 NEJMHome page
N. S. Harris, P. B. Crawford, Y. Yangzom, L. Pinzo, P. Gyaltsen, and M. Hudes
Nutritional and Health Status of Tibetan Children Living at High Altitudes
N. Engl. J. Med., February 1, 2001; 344(5): 341 - 347.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
W. E. Kaufmann and H. W. Moser
Dendritic Anomalies in Disorders Associated with Mental Retardation
Cereb Cortex, October 1, 2000; 10(10): 981 - 991.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 NEJMHome page
M. L. Reuss, N. Paneth, J. A. Pinto-Martin, J. M. Lorenz, and M. Susser
The Relation of Transient Hypothyroxinemia in Preterm Infants to Neurologic Development at Two Years of Age
N. Engl. J. Med., March 28, 1996; 334(13): 821 - 827.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1993 by The American Society for Nutrition