Typescript, etc.

Typescript, etc. / Digitized by Kansas State University Libraries

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1944 K6 / Master of Science

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1951 W58 / Master of Science

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1950 W3 / Master of Science

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1976.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1976.

Few studies in the area of psychodietetics have concentrated upon the relationship between a single dietary nutrient and behavior. However, some vitamins have been shown to be particularly important to central nervous system activity. Among these is Vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Two experiments were done to determine the effects of ascorbic acid deficient diets on a learning task in which guinea pigs were subjects. Learning was defined as acquisition and extinction of shock-escape and shock-avoidance behavior. In Experiment I, twelve adult guinea pigs were fed diets containing two different deficient amounts of ascorbic acid for six weeks. They were then run on shock-escape, shock-avoidance and extinction schedules. No significant differences in behavior among the dietary groups were shown by statistical analysis, either in acquisition or extinction. In Experiment II, three adult guinea pigs were fed the same ascorbic acid-deficient diets as in Experiment I for six weeks after a baseline performance on a shuttlebox shock avoidance schedule was obtained. Performance after dietary treatment among or across subjects was not observably different from the performance prior to treatment. Serum and adrenal protein analysis confirmed that the dietary treatment had lowered the total ascorbic acid content of the serum and adrenals, but behavior did not show a corresponding or consistent change. These results indicate that ascorbic acid deficient diets fed to adult guinea pigs did not result in a change in behavior as observed on shock-escape, shock-avoidance, or extinction schedules.

Yes / This paper presents a case study of a young infant, from a larger isotopic and osteological investigation of Bronze/Iron Age (14th-4th century BC) skeletal assemblages from Croatia and Slovenia. The osteological analysis of this infant identified pathological lesions including abnormal porosity and new bone formation consistent with malnutrition and phases of recovery. The distribution and appearance of these pathological lesions (i.e. diffuse micro-porosities and plaques of subperiosteal new bone formation on the skull and long bones) led to the conclusion that this infant probably suffered from scurvy (vitamin C deficiency). The diet and nitrogen balance of this individual were investigated by incremental dentine sampling and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis. This sampling method provided a high resolution record of dietary and metabolic changes from pre-birth to around the time of death. The resulting isotope data exhibited unusually high δ13C values for this region and time period (between -11.3‰ and -12.6‰), while δ15N values were observed to be c. 3‰ above that of rib collagen sampled from contemporary adults recovered from the same site. The isotope profiles generated from the incremental dentine analysis show that δ13C and especially δ15N continue to increase until death. The evidence from the skeletal remains and high resolution isotopic data support the hypothesis that this infant suffered from severe malnutrition and an increasingly negative nitrogen balance. The paper discusses some scenarios which could have resulted in these unusual isotope ratios, whilst considering the diagnosis of possible metabolic disease. The paper also addresses the need for context when interpreting isotopic results. The isotope data should not be viewed in isolation, but rather as part of a multidisciplinary approach, considering the multiple causes of isotopic variability.